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HANDLI 


Goodwin,  Charlea  Carroll. 

THE  COMSTOCK  CLUB.  —  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah  :  Tribune  Pub.,  1391. 


FUND 


Lib   Gen      EY 


VOLS. 


COPIES 


SHIP  TO  ACQUISITIONS   DEPARTMENT 

UNIVERSITY  OF   CALIFORNIA   LIBRARY 
P.O.   BOX    19557 

IRVINE.  CALIFORNIA   92713 


'VENDOR 


FREQUENCY 


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0.  F^ILE 


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PRICE 


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I   v 


COMSTOCK 
CLUB. 


BY 

C.  C.  GOODWIN 

MHTUU  SALT  LA^li  D.MLV  TKUH'NK. 


At-*- 

•»«xv  .*» 


Neither  radiant  angels  nor  magnified  monsters,  jut  just  plain,  true  men. 


1891. 

TRIBUNE  JOB  PRINTING  COMPANY, 
SALT  LAKE  CITV,  VTAH. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1891,  by 

THF.  LEONARD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 
ill  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


TO    THE 
MINERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    COAST, 

THIS    BOOK, 

WHICH  WAS  WRITTEN  WHILE  WORKING  FOR  AND  AMONG  THEM, 
IS    RESPECTFULLY    DEDICATED 

BY 
THE    AUTHOR. 


Salt  Luke  Cilij,  I'tali,  Dectmbfr  15.  1891. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER 

I.  THE  OLD  FLUSH  DAYS    . 

II.  THE  CLUB 

III.  MIRAGES  ..... 

IV.  THE  ARGONAUTS  .... 
V.  THE  CALL  OF  THE  BIRDS 

VI.  THE  PERFUME  AND  THE  LIGHT   . 

VII.  MAN  AS  A  WORKER 

VIII.  ROUGH  ROYALTY  .... 

IX.  MORE  ROYALTY        .... 

X.  SPECIMEN  LIARS  .... 

XI.  THE  CLUB  GROWS  POETICAL     . 

XII.  AN  UNBIASED  JUDGE    . 

XIII.  SISTER  CELESTE         .... 

XIV.  TROUBLE  WITH  THE  EXPENSE  ACCOUNT 
XV.  HUMOR  OF  THE  WEST 

XVI.  TROUBLE  IN  THE  CLUB 

XVII.  UP  IN  THE  SHEAVES 

XVIII.  THE  TERRIBLE  DEPTHS 

XIX.  THE  DAWN  OF  ELYSIUM 

XX.  THREE  POSTSCRIPTS 


PAGE 

1 

25 

35 

50 

56 

66 

79 

91 

110 

127 

143 

163 

175 

193 

21'.) 

243 

257 

270 

289 

303 


THE  COMSTOCK  CLUB. 


CHAPTER   I. 

"  The  pioneer !  Who  shall  fitly  tell  the  story  of  his 
life  and  work  ? 

"  The  soldier  leads  an  assault ;  it  lasts  but  a  few 
minutes  ;  he  knows  that  whether  he  lives  or  dies,  im 
mortality  will  be  his  reward.  What  wonder  that  there 
are  brave  soldiers  ! 

"  But  when  this  soldier  of  peace  assaults  the  wilder 
ness,  no  bugles  sound  the  charge  ;  the  forest,  the  des 
ert,  the  wild  beast,  the  savage,  the  malaria,  the  fatigue, 
are  the  foes  that  lurk  to  ambush  him,  and  if,  against 
the  unequal  odds,  he  falls,  no  volleys  are  fired  above 
him  ;  the  pitiless  world  merely  sponges  his  name  from 
its  slate. 

"  Thus  he  blazes  the  trails,  thus  he  fells  the  trees, 
thus  he  plants  his  rude  stakes,  thus  he  faces  the 
hardships,  and  whatever  fate  awaits  him,  his  self- 
contained  soul  keeps  its  finger  on  his  lips,  and  no 
lamentations  are  heard. 

"  He  smooths  the  rugged  fields,  he  turns  the 
streams,  and  his  only  cheer  is  when  he  sees  the  grain 
ripen  and  the  flowers  bloom  where  before  was  only 
the  frown  of  the  wilderness.  When  over  the  trail 
which  he  has  blazed,  enlightenment  comes  joyously, 


2  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

with  unsoiled  sandals,  and  homes  arid  temples  spring 
up  on  the  soil  that  was  first  broken  by  him,  his  youth 
is  gone,  hope  has  been  chastened  into  silence  within 
him — he  is  conscious  that  he  is  but  a  back  number. 

"Not  one  in  a  thousand  realizes  the  texture  of 
the  manhood  that  has  been  exhausting  itself  in  his 
struggles;  few  comprehend  his  nature  or  have  any 
conception  of  his  work. 

"  But  he  is  content.  The  shadows  of  the  wilder 
ness  have  been  chased  away ;  the  savage  beast  and 
the  savage  man  have  retired  before  him ;  nature  has 
brought  her  flowers  to  strew  the  steps  of  his  old  age ; 
in  his  soul  he  feels  that  somewhere  the  record  of  his 
work  and  of  his  high  thoughts  have  been  kept ;  and 
so  he  smiles  upon  the  younger  generation  and  is  con 
tent. 

"  May  that  contentment  be  his  to  the  end." 

It  was  an  anniversary  in  Pioneer  Hall,  in  Virginia 
City,  Nevada,  one  July  night  in  1878,  and  the  forego 
ing  were  the  closing  words  of  a  little  impromptu 
speech  that  Alex.  Strong  had  delivered. 

A  strange,  many-sided  man  was  Alex.  Strong.  He 
was  an  Argonaut.  When  the  first  tide  set  in  toward 
the  Golden  Coast,  he,  but  a  lad,  with  little  save  a 
pony  and  a  gun,  joined  a  train  that  crossed  the  Mis 
souri  and  was  headed  westward. 

The  people  in  the  company  looked  upon  him  as  a 
mere  boy,  but,  later,  when  real  hardships  were  en 
countered  and  sickness  came,  the  boy  became  the  life 
of  the  company.  When  women  and  children  drooped 
under  the  burdens  and  the  fear  of  the  wilderness,  it 
was  his  voice  that  cheered  them  on ;  his  gun  secured 


THE   COM  STOCK    CLUB.  3 

the  tender  bit  of  antelope  or  grouse  to  tempt  their 
failing  appetites ;  his  songs  drove  away  the  silence  of 
the  desert.  He  was  for  the  company  a  lark  at  morn, 
a  nightingale  at  night. 

Arriving  in  California  he  sought  the  hills.  When 
his  claim  would  not  pay  he  indited  scornful  songs  to 
show  "  defiance  of  luck."  Some  of  these  were  pub 
lished  in  the  mountain  papers,  and  then  a  few  people 
knew  that  somewhere  in  miner's  garb  a  genius  was 
hiding. 

Amid  the  hills,  in  his  cabin,  he  was  an  incessant 
reader,  and  with  his  books,  his  friction  against  men 
and  constant  study  of  Nature's  mighty  alphabet  as 
left  upon  her  mountains,  with  the  going  by  of  the 
years  he  rounded  into  a  cultured,  alert,  sometimes  pa 
thetic  and  sometimes  boisterous  man,  but  always  a 
shrewd,  all-around  man  of  affairs. 

When  we  greet  him  he  had  been  for  several  years 
a  brilliant  journalist.  He  had  jumped  up  to  make  a 
little  speech  in  Pioneer  Hall,  and  the  last  words  of 
his  speech  are  given  above. 

When  he  had  finished,  another  pioneer,  Colonel 
Savage,  was  called  upon.  He  was  always  prepared  to 
make  a  speech.  He  delighted,  moreover,  in  taking 
the  opposite  side  to  Strong.  So,  springing  to  his  feet 
he  cried  out : 

"Too  serious  are  the  words  of  my  friend.  What  of 
hardships,  when  youth,  the  beautiful,  walks  by  one's 
side  ?  What  of  danger,  when  one  feels  a  young  heart 
throbbing  in  his  breast  ? 

"Who  talks  of  loneliness  when  as  yet  no  fetter  has 
been  welded  upon  hope,  while  yet  the  unexplored  and 


4  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

unpeopled  portions  of  God's  world  beckon  the  brave 
to  come  to  woo  and  possess  them  ? 

"  The  pioneers  were  not  unhappy.  The  air  is  still 
filled  with  the  echoes  of  the  songs  they  sung ;  their 
bright  sayings  have  gone  into  the  traditions ;  the  im 
pression  they  made  upon  the  world  is  a  monument 
which  will  tell  of  their  achievements,  record  their 
sturdy  virtues  and  exalt  their  glorified  names." 

As  the  Colonel  ceased  and  some  one  else  was  called 
upon  to  talk,  Strong  motioned  to  Savage  and  both 
noiselessly  sought  some  vacant(seats  in  the  rear  of  the 
hall. 

Colonel  Savage  was  another  genius.     He  was  a 
young  lawyer  in  New  York  when  the  first  news  of 
gold  discoveries  in  California  was  carried  to  that  city. 
He,  with  a  hundred  others,  chartered  a  bark  that  was 
lying  idle  in  the  harbor,  had  her  fitted  up  and  loaded, 
and  in  her  made  a  seven  months'  voyage  around  the 
Cape  to  San   Francisco.     He  was  the  most  versatile 
of  the  Argonauts.       Every  mood  of  poor  human  na 
ture  found  a  response  in  him.    At  a  funeral  he  shamed 
the  mourners  by  the  sadness  of  his  face  ;  at  a  festival 
he  added  a  sparkle  to  the  wines ;  he  could  convulse  a 
saloon  with  a  story ;  he  could  read  a  burial  service 
with  a  pathos  that  stirred  every  heart ;  and  so  his  life 
ran   on  until  when  we   find  him  he  had  been  several 
years  a  leading  member  of  a  brighter  bar  than  ever 
before  was  seen   in  a  town  of  the  size  of  Virginia 
City. 

He  was  a  tall,  handsome  man,  his  face  was  classi 
cal,  and  his  bearing,  even  when  all  unbent,  was  that 
of  a  high-born,  self-contained  and  self-respecting  man. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  5 

Strong,  on  the  other  hand,  was  of  shorter  stature  ; 
his  face  was  the  perfect  picture  of  mirthfulness;  there 
was  wonderful  magnetism  in  his  smile  and  hand-clasp  ; 
but  when  in  repose  a  close  look  at  his  face  revealed, 
below  the  mirthfulness,  that  calm  which  is  the  close 
attendant  upon  conscious  power. 

As  they  reached  their  seats  Alex,  spoke  : 

"You  were  awfully  good  to-night,  Colonel." 

"Of  course;  I  always  am.  But  what  has  awakened 
your  appreciation  to-night  ?" 

"  I  thought  my  speech  was  horrible." 

"  For  once  it  would  require  a  brave  man  to  doubt 
your  judgment,"  said  the  Colonel  sententiously. 

"  I  was  sure  of  it  until  I  heard  you  speak ;  then  I 
recovered  my  self-respect,  believing  that,  by  compari 
son,  my  speech  would  ring  in  the  memories  of  the 
listeners  like  a  psalm." 

"  You  mean  Sam,  the  town-crier  and  boot-black. 
His  brain  is  a  little  weak,  but  his  lungs  are  superb." 

"  I  believe  you  are  jealous  of  his  voice,  Colonel. 
But  sit  down  ;  I  want  to  tell  you  about  the  most  un- 
regenerate  soul  on  earth." 

"  Proceed,  Alex.,  only  do  not  forget  that  under 
the  merciful  statutes  of  the  State  of  Nevada  no  man 
is  obliged  to  make  statements  which  will  criminate 
himself." 

"  What  a  comfort  that  knowledge  must  be  to 
you ! " 

"  It  often  is.  My  heart  is  full  of  sympathy  for  the 
unfortunate,  and  more  than  once  have  I  seen  eyes 
grow  bright  when  I  have  given  that  information  to  a 
client." 


6  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

44  The  study  of  that  branch  of  law  must  have  had  a 
peculiar  fascination  to  you." 

"Indeed  it  did,  Alex.  At  every  point  where  the 
law  draws  the  shield  of  its  mercy  around  the  accused, 
in  my  thought  it  seemed  made  for  one  or  another  of 
my  friends,  and,  mentally,  I  found  myself  defending 
one  after  the  other  of  them." 

"  Did  you,  at  the  same  time,  keep  in  thought  the 
fact  that  in  an  emergency  the  law  permits  a  man  to 
plead  his  own  cause  ?  " 

"  Never,  on  my  honor.  In  those  days  my  life  v/as 
circumspect,  even  as  it  now  is,  and  my  associates — 
not  as  now — were  so  genteel  that  there  was  no  dan 
ger  of  any  suspicion  attaching  to  me  because  of  the 
people  with  whom  I  was  daily  seen." 

"  That  was  good  for  you,  but  what  sort  of  reputa 
tions  did  your  associates  have  ?  "  asked  Alex. 

"They  went  on  from  glory  to  glory.  One  became 
a  conductor  on  a  railroad,  and  in  four  years,  at  a  sal 
ary  of  one  hundred  dollars  per  month,  retired  rich. 
One  became  a  bank  cashier,  and  three  years  later, 
through  the  advice  of  his  physicians,  settled  in  the 
soft  climate  of  Venice,  where  no  extradition  treaty  is 
in  force.  Another  one  is  a  broker  here  in  this  city, 
and,  I  am  told,  is  doing  so  well  that  he  hopes  next 
year  to  be  superintendent  of  a  mine." 

'Why  have  you  not  succeeded  better,  Colonel, 
financially?" 

"  I  am  too  honest.  Every  day  I  stop  lawsuits 
which  I  ought  to  permit  to  go  on.  Every  day  I  do 
work  for  nothing  which  I  ought  to  charge  for.  I  tell 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  7 

you,  Alex.,  I  would  sooner  be  right  than  be  Presi 
dent." 

"  I  cannot,  just  now,  recall  any  one  who  knows 
you,  Colonel,  who  does  not  feel  the  same  way  about 
you." 

"That  is  because  the  most  of  my  friends  are  dull 
men,  like  yourself.  But  how  prospers  that  news 
paper  ?" 

"  It  is  the  same  old,  steady  grind,"  replied  Alex., 
thoughtfully.  "  I  saw  a  blind  horse  working  in  a 
whim  yesterday.  As  he  went  round  and  round,  there 
seemed  on  his  face  a  look  of  anxiety  to  find  out  how 
much  longer  that  road  of  his  was,  and  I  said  to  him, 
compassionately  :  '  Old  Spavin,  you  know  something 
of  what  it  is  to  work  on  a  daily  paper.'  I  went  to  the 
shaft  and  watched  the  buckets  as  they  came  up,  and 
there  was  only  one  bucket  of  ore  to  ten  buckets  of 
waste.  Then  I  went  back  to  the  horse  and  said  to 
him  :  '  You  do  not  know  the  fact,  you  blissfully  ig 
norant  old  brute,  but  your  work  is  mightily  like  ours, 
one  bucket  of  ore  to  ten  of  waste.' ' 

"  How  would  you  like  to  have  me  write  an  editorial 
for  your  paper  ?  " 

"  I  should  be  most  grateful,"  was  the  reply. 

"  On  what  theme  ?  " 

"  Oh,  you  might  make  your  own  selection. ' 

"  How  would  you  like  an  editorial  on-  —scoun 
drels?" 

"  It  would,  with  your  experience,  be  truthfully 
written,  doubtless,  but,  Colonel,  it  is  only  now  and 
then  in  good  taste  for  a  man  to  supply  the  daily 
journals  with  his  autobiography." 


8  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"How  modest  you  are.  You  did  not  forget  that, 
despite  the  impersonality  of  journalism,  you  would 
have  the  credit  of  the  article?" 

"No,  I  was  afraid  of  that  credit,  and  I  am  poor 
enough  now,  Colonel ;  but  really,  that  credit  does  not 
count.  If,  for  five  days  in  the  week,  I  make  news 
papers  which  my  judgment  tells  me  are  passably 
good,  it  appears  to  me  the  only  use  that  is  made  of 
them  is  for  servant  girls  to  kindle  fires  with,  and  do 
up  their  bangs  in  ;  but  if,  on  the  sixth  day,  my  heart 
is  heavy  and  my  brain  thick,  and  the  paper  next 
morning  is  poor,  it  seems  to  me  that  everybody  in  the 
camp  looks  curiously  at  me,  as  if  to  ascertain  for  a 
certainty,  whether  or  no,  I  am  in  the  early  stages  of 
brain  softening." 

"A  reasonable  suspicion,  I  fancy,  Alex.;  but  what 
do  you  think  of  your  brother  editors  of  this  coast  as 
men  and  writers  ?  " 

"  Most  of  them  are  good  fellows,  and  bright  writers. 
If  you  knew  under  what  conditions  some  of  them 
work,  you  would  take  off  your  hat  every  time  you 
met  them." 

"To  save  my  hat?"  queried  the  Colonel.  "  But 
whom  do  you  consider  the  foremost  editor  of  the 
coast?" 

"  There  is  no  such  person.  Men  with  single 
thoughts  and  purposes,  are,  as  a  rule,  the  men  who 
make  marks  in  this  world.  For  instance,  just  now, 
the  single  purpose  of  James  G.  Fair  is  to  make 
money  through  mining.  Hence,  he  is  a  great  miner, 
and  he,  now  and  then,  I  am  told,  manages  to  save  a 
few  dollars  in  the  business.  The  dream  of  C.  P. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  9 

Huntington  is  to  make  money  through  railroads,  so 
he  builds  roads,  that  he  may  collect  more  fares  and 
freights,  and  he  collects  more  fares  and  freights  so 
that  he  may  build  more  roads,  and  I  believe,  all  in 
all,  that  he  is  the  ablest,  if  not  the  coldest  and  most 
pitiless,  railroad  man  in  the  world.  The  ruling  thought 
of  Andy  Barlow  is  to  be  a  fighter,  and  he  can  draw 
and  shoot  in  the  space  of  a  lightning's  flash.  The 
dream  of  George  Washington,  he  having  no  children, 
was  to  create  and  establish  a  nation  which  should  at 
once  be  strong  and  free,  and  the  result  is,  his  grave  is 
a  shrine.  But,  as  the  eight  notes  of  the  scale,  in  their 
combinations,  fill  the  world  with  music — or  with  dis 
cords — so  the  work  of  an  editor  covers  all  the  sub 
jects  on  which  men  have  ever  thought,  or  ever  will 
think,  and  the  best  thaj:  any  one  editor  can  do  is  to 
handle  a  few  subjects  well.  Among  our  coast  editors 
there  is  one  with  more  marked  characteristics,  more 
flashes  of  genius  in  certain  directions,  more  contra 
dictions  and  more  pluck  than  any  other  one  pos 
sesses. 

"  That  one  is  Harry  Mighels,  of  Carson.  I  men 
tion  him  because  I  have  been  thinking  of  him  all  day, 
and  because  I  fear  that  his  work  is  finished.  The 
last  we  heard  of  him  was,  that  he  was  disputing  with 
the  surgeons  in  San  Francisco,  they  telling  him  that 
he  was  fatally  ill,  and  he  offering  to  wager  two  to  one 
that  they  were  badly  mistaken." 

"Poor  Harry,"  mused  the  Colonel;  "he  is  a 
plucky  man.  I  heard  one  of  our  rich  men  once  try 
to  get  him  to  write  something,  or  not  to  write  some 
thing,  I  have  forgotten  which,  and  when  Mighels 


IO  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

declined  to  consent,  the  millionaire  told  him  he  was 
too  poor  to  be  so  exceedingly  independent.  Here 
Mighels,  in  a  low  voice,  which  sounded  to  me  like 
the  purr  of  a  tiger,  said  :  'You  are  quite  mistaken  ; 
you  do  not  know  how  rich  I  am.  I  have  that  little 
printing  office  at  Carson  ;  paper  enough  to  last  me 
for  a  week  or  ten  days.  I  have  a  wife  and  three 
babies,'  and  then  suddenly  raising  his  voice  to  the 
dangerous  note,  and  bringing  his  fist  down  on  the 
table  before  him  with  a  crash,  he  shouted,  '  and  they 
are  all  mine! ' 

"  The  rich  man  looked  at  him,  and,  smiling,  said  : 
'  Don't  talk  like  a  fool,  Mighels.'  The  old  humor 
was  all  back  in  Mighels'  face  in  an  instant,  as  he  re 
plied,  'Was  I  talking  like  a  fool,  old  man?  What  a 
sublime  faculty  I  have  of  exactly  gauging  my  conver 
sation  to  the  mental  grasp  of  my  listener! '" 

"  But,  Alex.,  do  you  not  think  there  is  a  great  deal 
of  humbug  about  the  much-vaunted  power  of  the 
press  ? " 

4  There's  gratitude  for  you.  You  ask  me  such  a 
question  as  that !" 

"  And  why  not  ?  "  inquired  the  Colonel. 

'  You  won  a  great  suit  last  week,  did  you  not — 
the  case  of  Jones  vs.  Smith  ?  " 

'  Yes,  it  was  wonderful ;  let  me  tell  you  about  it." 

"  No  ;  spare  me,"  cried  Alex.  "  But  how  much 
did  you  receive  for  winning  that  case  ?  " 

"  I  received  a  cool  ten  thousand  dollars." 

"And  you  still  ask  about  the  influence  of  the 
press?" 

"  Yes.     Why  should  I  not  ?  " 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  I  I 

"  Sure  enough,  why  should  you  not  ?  If  you  will 
stop  and  think  you  will  know  that  three  months  ago 
you  could  not  have  secured  a  jury  in  the  State  that 
would  have  given  you  that  verdict.  There  was  a 
principle  on  trial  in  that  case  that  public  opinion  was 
pronounced  against  in  a  most  marked  manner.  The 
press  took  up  the  discussion  and  fought  it  out.  At 
length  it  carried  public  opinion  with  it.  That  thing 
has  been  done  over  and  over  right  here.  At  the 
right  time,  your  case,  which  hung  upon  that  very 
point,  was  called.  You  think  you  managed  it  well. 
It  was  simply  a  walk-over  for  you.  The  men  with 
the  Fabers  had  done  the  work  for  you.  The  jury 
men  unconsciously  had  made  up  their  minds  before 
they  heard  the  complaint  in  the  case  read.  The  best 
thoughts  in  your  argument  you  had  unconsciously 
stolen  from  the  newspapers,  and  the  Judge,  looking 
as  wise  as  an  Arctic  owl,  unconsciously  wrung  half 
an  editorial  into  his  charge.  You  received  ten  thou 
sand  dollars,  and  to  the  end  of  his  days  your  client 
will  tell  (Heaven  forgive  his  stupidity)  what  a  law 
yer  you  are,  but  ask  him  his  opinion  of  newspaper 
men  and  he  will  shrug  his  shoulders,  scowl,  and  with 
a  donkey's  air  of  wisdom,  answer  :  '  Oh,  they  are 
necessary  evils.  We  want  the  local  news  and  the 
dispatches,  and  we  have  to  endure  them.' 

"  I  am  glad  you  robbed  him,  Colonel.  I  wish  you 
could  rob  them  all.  If  a  child  is  born  to  one  of  them 
we  have  to  tell  of  it,  and  mention  delicately  how  noble 
the  father  is  and  how  lovely  the  mother  is.  If  one  of 
them  dies  we  have  to  jeopardize  our  immortal  souls 
trying  to  make  out  a  character  for  him.  They  want 


12  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

us  every  day ;  we  hold  up  their  business  and  their 
reputations,  beginning  at  the  cradle,  ending  only  at 
the  grave." 

"  What  kind  of  a  character  would  you  give  me  were 
I  to  die?" 

"  Try  it,  Colonel,  try  it !  And  if  '  over  the  divide  ' 
it  shall  be  possible  for  you  to  look  back  and  read  the 
daily  papers,  when  your  shade  gets  hold  of  my  no 
tice,  I  promise  you  it  will  be  glad  that  you  are  dead." 

"  But  what  about  that  unregenerate  soul  that  you 
were  going  to  tell  me  of — has  some  broker  sold  out 
some  widow's  stocks  ?  " 

"No;  worse  than  that." 

"  Has  some  one  burglarized  some  hospital  or 
orphan  asylum  ?"  suggested  the  Colonel. 

"  Oh,  no.  Old  Angus  Jacobs,  you  know,  is  rich. 
Among  strangers  he  parades  his  thin  veneering  of 
reading,  and  poses  as  though  all  his  vaults  were  stuffed 
with  reserves  of  knowledge.  Well,  while  East  last 
spring,  he  ran  upon  a  distinguished  publisher  there, 
with  whom  he  agreed  that  he  would,  on  his  return, 
write  and  send  for  publication  an  article  on  the  West. 

"  He  came  and  begged  me  to  write  it,  confessing 
that  he  had  deceived  the  publisher,  and  asserting  that 
he  must  keep  up  the  deception,  or  the  integrity  of  the 
West  would  be  injured  in  the  estimation  of  that  pub 
lisher. 

"  I  went  to  work,  wrote  an  article,  became  enthused 
as  I  wrote,  wrote  it  over,  spent  as  much  as  three  solid 
days  upon  it;  and  when  it  was  finished  I  looked  upon 
my  work,  and  lo,  it  was  good. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  13 

"  Then,  at  my  own  expense,  I  had  it  carefully  cop 
ied  and  gave  the  copy  to  old  Angus.  He  sent  it  East. 
To-day  he  received  a  dozen  copies  and  a  letter  of  pro 
fuse  praise  and  thanks  from  the  publisher. 

"  I  saw  the  old  thief  give  one  of  the  copies  to  a  lit 
erary  man  from  San  Francisco,  telling  him,  cheerfully, 
as  he  did  so,  that  he  dashed  the  article  off  hastily,  that 
most  of  the  language  was  crude  and  awkward,  but  it 
might  entertain  him  a  little  on  the  train  going  to  San 
Francisco." 

'•  I  never  heard  of  anything  meaner  or  more  de 
praved  than  that,"  indignantly  remarked  the  Colonel, 
"  except  when  I  read  the  funeral  service  over  an  old 
Dutchman's  child  once,  in  Downieville.  Speaking  of 
it  afterward,  the  old  Hessian  said  : 

"  '  Dot  Colonel's  reading  vos  fine,  but  he  dond  vos 
haf  dot  prober  look  uf  regret  vot  he  ought  to  haf 
had' — but  here  comes  the  Professor." 

Professor  Stoneman  joined  the  pair,  and  when  the 
greetings  were  over  the  professor  said : 

"I  am  just  in  from  Eastern  Nevada;  went  to 
Eureka  to  examine  a  mine  owned  by  a  jolly  miner 
named  Moore.  It  is  a  good  one,  too — a  contact  vein 
between  lime  and  quartzite.  The  fellow  worked,  run 
ning  a  tunnel,  all  winter,  and  now  he  has  struck,  and 
cross-cut,  his  vein.  It  is  fully  seven  feet  thick,  and 
rich.  I  asked  him  how  he  felt  when  at  last  he  cut  the 
vein. 

"'  How  did  I  feel,  Professor,'  he  said,  'how  did  I 
feel  ?  Why,  General  Jackson's  overcoat  would  not 
have  made  a  paper  collar  for  me.' 


14  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"There  are  a  great  many  queer  characters  out  that 
way.  Moore  is  not  a  very  well  educated  man.  In 
Eureka  I  was  telling  about  the  mine — that  Moore 
ought  to  make  a  fortune  out  of  it — when  a  man  stand 
ing  by,  a  stranger  to  me,  stretched  up  both  his  arms 
and  cried  :  'A  fortune  !  Look  at  it,  now  !  Moore  is 
so  unspeakably  ignorant  that  he  could  not  spell  out 
the  name  of  the  Savior  if  it  were  written  on  White 
Pine  Mountain  in  letters  bigger  than  the  Coast 
Range.  But  he  strikes  it  rich  !  His  kind  always  do.' 
Then  he  added,  bitterly  :  '  If  I  could  find  a  chimpan 
zee,  I  would  draw  up  articles  of  copartnership  with 
him  in  fifteen  minutes.' 

"And  then  a  quiet  fellow,  who  was  present,  said  : 
'Jim,  maybe  the  chimpanzee,  after  taking  a  good  look 
at  you,  would  not  stand  it.' 

"I  was  sitting  in  a  barroom  there  one  day,  and  a 
man  was  talking  about  the  Salmon  River  mines,  and 
insisting  that  they  were  more  full  of  promise  than 
anything  in  Nevada,  when  another  man  in  the  crowd 
earnestly  said: 

'"If  my  brother  were  to  write  me  that  it  was  a  good 
country  and  advise  me  to  come  up  there,  I  would  not 
believe  him.' 

"Quick  as  lightning,  still  another  man  responded: 
'If  we  all  knew  your  brother  as  well  as  you  do,  maybe 
none  of  us  would  believe  him.' 

"That  is  the  way  they  spend  their  time  out  there. 
But  I  secured  some  lovely  specimens ;  specimens  of 
ore,  rare  shells,  some  of  the  finest  specimens  of  mira- 
bilite  of  lead  that  I  ever  saw.  It  is  a  most  interesting 
region.  But  I  don't  agree  entirely  with  Clarence 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  15 

King  on  the  geology  of  the  district.  You  see  King's 
theory  is — " 

"  Oh,  hold  on,  Professor,"  said  the  Colonel ;  "  it  does 
not  lack  an  hour  of  midnight.  You  have  not  time, 
positively.  Heigh-ho  !  Here  is  Wright.  How  is  the 
mine,  Wright  ?" 

"About  two  hundred  tons  lighter  than  it  was  this 
morning,  I  reckon,"  replied  Wright. 

"  But  tell  us  about  the  mine,  Wright,"  said  Alex., 
impatiently.  "  How  is  the  temperature  ?" 

"  How  is  your  health  ?"  responded  Wright,  jocularly. 
"If  you  do  not  expect  to  live  long,  you  might  come 
down  and  take  some  preparatory  lessons  ;  that  is,  if 
you  anticipate  joining  the  majority  of  newspaper 
men." 

"  No,  no ;  you  are  mistaken,"  said  Alex.  "You 
mean  the  Colonel.  He  is  a  lawyer,  you  know." 

"It  is  the  Professor  that  needs  the  practice,"  chimed 
in  the  Colonel.  "Just  imagine  him  '  down  below,' 
explaining  to  the  gentleman  in  green  how  similar  the 
formation  is  to  a  hot  drift  that  he  once  found  in  the 
Comstock.' 

"  I  will  tell  you  a  hotter  place  than  any  drift  in  the 
Comstock,"  said  the  Professor.  "  Put  all  the  money 
that  you  have  into  stocks,  having  a  dead  pointer  from 
a  friend  who  is  posted,  buy  on  a  margin,  and  then 
have  the  stocks  begin  to  go  down  ;  that  will  start  the 
perspiration  on  you." 

"We  have  all  been  in  that  drift,"  said  Alex. 

"  Indeed  we  have,"  responded  Wright. 

"  I  have  lived  in  that  climate  for  twelve  years. 
One  or  two  winters  it  kept  me  so  warm  that  I  did 


1 6  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

not  need  an  overcoat  or  watch,  so  I  loaned  them  to 
— '  mine  uncle/  "  remarked  the  Colonel. 

"  But,  do  you  know  any  points  on  stocks,  Wright  ?  " 

"  No,  not  certainly,  Alex.  I  heard  some  rumors 
last  night  and  ordered  100  Norcross  this  morning. 
Some  of  the  boys  think  it  will  jump  up  three  or  four 
dollars  in  the  next  ten  days." 

"  I  took  in  a  block  of  Utah  yesterday.  They  are 
getting  down  pretty  deep,  and  there  is  lots  of  unex 
plored  ground  in  that  mine,"  said  the  Colonel, 
quietly. 

The  Professor,  looking  serious,  said  :  "  I  have  all 
my  money  the  other  way,  in  Justice  and  Silver  Hill. 
They  are  not  deep  enough  in  the  north  end  yet." 

Alex,  got  up  from  his  chair.  "You  are  all  mis 
taken,"  said  he  ;  "  Overman  is  the  best  buy,  but  it  is 
growing  late  and  I  must  go  to  work.  What  shift  are 
you  on,  Wright?" 

"  I  go  on  at  seven  in  the  morning.  By  the  way, 
you  should  come  up  of  an  evening  to  our  Club.  We 
would  be  glad  to  see  all  three  of  you." 

"  And  pray,  what  do  you  mean  by  your  Club  ?  " 
asked  the  Colonel. 

"Why,"  said  Wright,  "I  thought  you  knew. 
Three  or  four  of  us  miners  met  up  here  one  night 
last  month.  Joe  Miller  was  in  the  party,  and  as  we 
were  drinking  beer  and  talking  about  stocks,  Miller 
proposed  that  we  should  hire  a  vacant  house  on  the 
divide — the  old  Beckley  House — and  give  up  the 
boarding  and  lodging  houses.  We  talked  it  all  over, 
how  shamefully  we  had  been  going  on,  how  we  were 
spending  all  our  money  ;  how,  if  we  had  the  house, 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  17 

we  could  save  fifty  or  sixty  dollars  a  month,  and  eat 
what  we  pleased,  do  what  we  pleased,  and  have  a 
place  in  which  to  pass  our  leisure  time  without  going 
to  the  saloons  ;  so  we  picked  up  three  or  four  more 
men,  and,  on  last  pay-day,  moved  in — seven  of  us  in  all 
— each  man  bringing  his  own  chair,  blankets  and  food. 
The  latter,  of  course,  was  all  put  into  common  stock, 
and  Miller  had  fixed  everything  else.  Since  then  we 
have  been  getting  along  jolly." 

"  But  who  makes  up  your  company  ?  "  inquired 
Alex. 

"  Oh,  you  know  the  whole  outfit,"  answered 
Wright.  "  There  is  Miller,  as  I  told  you  ;  there  are, 
besides,  Tom  Carlin,  old  man  Brewster,  Herbert 
Ashley,  Sammy  Harding,  Barney  Corrigan  and 
myself. " 

"  It  is  a  good  crowd  ;  but  you  are  not  all  working 
in  the  same  mine,  are  you? "said  the  Professor,  in 
quiringly. 

"  Oh,  no.  Brewster  is  running  a  power-drill  in  the 
Bullion.  He  is  a  mechanic,  you  know,  and  not  a 
real  miner.  Miller  and  Harding  are  in  the  Curry, 
Barney  is  in  the  Norcross,  Carlin  and  Ashley  are  in 
the  Imperial,  and  I  am  in  the  Savage.  But  we  all 
happen  to  be  on  the  same  shift,  so,  for  this  month  at 
least,  we  have  our  evenings  together." 

"  It  must  be  splendid,"  enthusiastically  remarked 
the  Colonel. 

"  How  do  you  spend  your  evenings  ?"  asked  Alex. 

"  We  talk  on  all  subjects  except  politics.  Thafr 
subject,  we  agreed  at  the  start,  should  not  be  dis 
cussed.  We  read  and  compare  notes  on  stocks." 


1 8  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"How  do  you  manage  about  your  cooking?'* 
queried  the  Professor. 

"We  have  a  Chinaman,  who  is  a  daisy.  He  is 
cook,  housekeeper,  chambermaid,  and  would  be  com 
panion  and  musician  if  we  could  stand  it.  You  must 
come  up  and  see  us." 

"  I  will  come  to-morrow  evening,"  Alex,  replied, 
eagerly. 

"  So  will  I,"  said  the  Colonel,  with  a  positiveness 
that  was  noticeable. 

"  And  so  will  I,"  shouted  the  Professsor. 

Just  then  the  eleven  o'clock  whistles  sounded  up 
and  down  the  lode.  "  That  is  our  signal  for  retir 
ing,"  said  Wright,  "and  so  good  night." 

"  Let  us  go  out  and  take  a  nightcap,  first,"  said  the 
Colonel. 

"  Well,  if  I  must,"  said  Wright.  "  Though  the  rule 
of  our  Club  is  only  a  little  for  medicine." 

The  nightcaps  were  ordered  and  swallowed.  Then 
the  men  separated,  the  Colonel,  the  Professor  and 
Wright  going  home,  the  journalist  to  his  work. 

Professor  Stoneman  was  a  character.  Tall  and 
spare,  with  such  an  outline  as  Abraham  Lincoln  had  ; 
he  was  fifty  years  of  age,  with  grave  and  serene  face 
when  in  repose,  and  with  a  mien  of  one  of  the  faculty 
of  a  university.  Still,  he  had  that  nature  which 
caused  him  when  a  boy  to  run  away  from  his  Indiana 
home  to  the  Mexican  war,  and  he  fought  through  all 

o  o 

that  long  day  at  Buena  Vista,  a  lad  of  eighteen  years. 
Of  course  he  was  with  the  first  to  reach  California. 
He  had  tried  mining  and  many  other  things,  but  the 
deeper  side  of  his  nature  was  to  pursue  the  sciences  ; 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  1 9 

the  lighter,  to  mingle  with  good  fellows.  He  would 
tell  a  story  one  moment  and  the  next  would  combat 
a  scientific  theory  with  the  most  learned  of  the  East 
ern  scientists,  and  carry  away  from  the  controversy 
the  full  respect  of  his  opponent.  There  was  a  great 
fund  of  merriment  within  him,  and  his  generosity  not 
only  kept  his  bank  account  a  minus  number,  but 
moreover,  kept  his  heart  aching  that  he  had  no  more 
to  give.  When  by  himself  he  was  an  incessant  stu 
dent,  and  beside  knowing  all  that  books  taught,  he 
had  his  own  ideas  of  the  correctness  of  the  teaching, 
especially  that  which  deals  with  the  formation  of  ore 
deposits.  He  was  a  learned  writer,  a  gifted  lecturer 
and  an  expert  of  mines,  and,  over  all,  the  most  genial 
of  men. 

Adrian  Wright  was  of  another  stamp  altogether. 
He  was  tall  and  strong,  with  large  feet  and  hands,  a 
massive  man  in  all  respects,  and  forty-five  years  of 
age. 

He  had  a  cool  and  brave  gray  eye,  a  firm,  strong 
mouth,  very  light  brown  hair,  and  carried  always  with 
him  a  something  which  first  impressed  those  who  saw 
him  with  his  power,  while  the  second  look  gave  the 
thought  that  besides  the  power  which  was  visible,  he 
had  unmeasured  reserves  of  concealed  force  which  he 
could  call  upon  at  demand. 

He  went  an  uncultured  lad  to  California.  He  was 
at  first  a  placer  miner.  Obtaining  a  good  deal  of 
money  he  became  a  mountain  trader  and  the  owner  of 
a  ditch,  which  supplied  some  hydraulic  grounds.  He 
was  brusque  in  address,  said  "whar"and  "  thar,"  but 
his  head  was  large  and  firmly  poised  ;  his  heart  was 


20  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

warm  as  a  child's,  and  he  was  loved  for  his  clear,  good 
sense  and  for  the  sterling  manhood  which  was  appar 
ent  in  all  his  ways.  Though  uncultured  in  the  schools, 
he  had  read  a  great  deal,  and,  mixing  much  with  men, 
his  judgment  had  matured,  until  in  his  mountain  ham 
let  his  word  had  become  an  authority. 

His  friends  persuaded  him  to  become  a  candidate 
for  the  State  Legislature.  After  he  had  consented  to 
run  he  spent  a  good  deal  of  money  in  the  campaign. 
He  was  elected  and  went  to  Sacramento.  There  he 
was  persuaded  to  buy  largely  of  Comstock  stocks.  He 
bought  on  a  margin.  When  it  came  time  to  put  up 
more  money  he  could  not  without  borrowing.  He 
would  not  do  that  through  fear  lest  he  could  not  pay. 
He  lost  the  stocks.  He  went  homein  the  spring  to  find 
that  his  clerks  had  given  large  credits  to  miners;  the 
hydraulic  mines  ceased  to  pay,  which  rendered  his 
ditch  property  valueless,  and  a  few  days  later  his 
store  burned  down.  When  his  debts  were  paid  he 
had  but  a  few  hundred  dollars  left.  He  said  nothing 
about  his  reverses,  but  went  to  Virginia  City  and  for 
several  years  had  been  working  in  the  mines. 

As  already  said,  a  miner's  mess  had  been  formed. 
Seven  miners  on  the  Comstock  might  be  picked  out 
who  would  pretty  nearly  represent  the  whole  world. 

This  band  had  been  drawn  together  partly  because 
of  certain  traits  that  they  possessed  in  common, 
though  each  was  distinctly  different  from  all  the 
others. 

We  have  read  of  Wright.  Of  the  others,  James 
Brewster  was  the  oldest  of  the  company.  He  was 
fifty  years  of  age,  and  from  Massachusetts.  He  was 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  21 

not  tall, but  was  large  and  powerful.  There  were  streaks 
of  gray  in  his  hair,  but  his  eyes  were  clear,  and  black 
as  midnight.  He  had  a  bold  nose  and  invincible 
mouth ;  the  expression  of  his  whole  face  was  that  of  a 
resolute,  self-contained,  but  kindly  nature.  All  his 
movements  were  quick  and  positive.  He  was  edu 
cated,  and  though  of  retiring  ways,  when  he  talked 
everybody  near  him  listened.  He  was  not  a  miner, 
but  a  mechanical  engineer,  and  his  work  was  the  run 
ning  of  power  drills  in  the  mine.  He  never  talked 
much  of  his  own  affairs,  but  it  was  understood  that 
misfortune  in  business  had  caused  him  to  seek  the 
West  somewhat  late  in  life.  The  truth  was  he  had 
never  been  rich.  He  possessed  a  moderately  prosperous 
business  until  a  long  illness  came  to  his  wife,  and  when 
the  depression  which  followed  the  reaction  from  the 
war  and  the  contraction  of  the  currency  fell  upon  the 
North,  he  found  he  had  little  left,  and  so  sought  a  new 
field.  He  was  the  Nestor  of  the  Club  and  was  exceed 
ingly  loved  by  his  companions. 

Miller,  who  first  proposed  the  club,  was  a  New 
Yorker  by  birth,  a  man  forty-five  years  of  age,  of  me 
dium  height,  keen  gray  eyes,  a  clear-cut,  sharp  face, 
slight  of  build,  but  all  nerve  and  muscle,  and  lithe  as 
a  panther.  He  had  been  for  a  quarter  of  a  century 
on  the  west  coast,  and  knew  it  well  from  British  Co 
lumbia  to  Mexico,  and  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to 
the  Pacific.  He  was  given  a  good  education  in  his 
youth ;  he  had  mingled  with  all  sorts  of  men  and  been 
engaged  in  all  kinds  of  business.  There  was  a  per 
petual  flash  to  his  eyes,  and  a  restlessness  upon  him 
which  made  him  uneasy  if  restrained  at  all.  He  had 


22  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

the  reputation  of  being  inclined  to  take  desperate 
chances  sometimes,  but  was  honorable,  thoroughly, 
and  generous  to  a  fault.  He  had  studied  men  closely, 
and  of  nature's  great  book  he  was  a  constant  reader. 
He  knew  the  voices  of  the  forests  and  of  the  streams; 
he  had  a  theory  that  the  world  was  but  a  huge  ani 
mal  ;  that  if  we  were  but  wise  enough  to  understand, 
we  should  hear  from  nature's  own  voice  the  story  of 
the  world  and  hear  revealed  all  her  profound  secrets. 
He  possessed  a  magnetism  which  drew  friends  to  him 
everywhere.  His  hair  was  sfill  unstreaked  with  gray, 
but  his  face  was  careworn,  like  that  of  one  who  had 
been  dissipated  or  who  had  suffered  many  disappoint 
ments. 

Carlin  was  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  long  of  limb, 
angular,  gruff,  but  hearty  ;  quick,  sharp  and  shrewd, 
but  free-handed  and  generally  in  the  best  of  humors. 
He  was  an  Illinois  man,  and  a  good  type  of  the  men 
of  the  Old  West.  His  eyes  were  brown,  his  hair 
chestnut ;  erect,  he  was  six  feet  in  height,  but  seated, 
there  seemed  to  be  no  place  for  his  hands  and  hardly 
room  enough  for  his  feet.  He  was  well  educated,  and 
had  been  but  three  and  a  half  years  on  the  Comstock. 

All  the  Californians  in  the  club  insisted,  of  course, 
that  there  was  no  other  place  than  that;  but  this  Car 
lin  always  vehemently  denied,  for  he  came  from  the 
State  of  Lincoln  and  Douglas,  and  the  State,  more 
over,  that  had  Chicago  in  one  corner  of  it,  and  he  did 
not  believe  there  was  another  such  State  in  all  the 
Republic. 

Ashley  was  from  Pennsylvania ;  a  young  man  of 
twenty-five,  above  medium  height,  compact  as  a  tiger 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  23 

in  his  make-up,  and  weighing,  perhaps,  one  hundred 
and  eighty  pounds.  His  eyes  were  gray,  his  hair 
brown,  his  face  almost  classic  in  its  outlines ;  his  feet 
and  hands  were  particularly  small  and  finely  formed, 
and  there  was  a  contagious  jollity  and  heartiness 
about  his  laugh.  He  had  an  excellent  education,  and 
had  seen  a  good  deal  of  business  in  his  early  man 
hood. 

Corrigan  was  a  thorough  Irishman,  generous, 
warm-hearted,  witty,  sociable,  brave  to  recklessness, 
curly-haired,  with  laughing,  blue  eyes ;  the  most  open 
and  frank  of  faces  that  was  ever  smiling  ;  powerfully 
built  and  ready  at  a  moment's  notice  to  fight  anyone 
or  give  anyone  his  purse.  Everybody  knew  and 
liked  him,  and  he  liked  everybody  that,  as  he  ex 
pressed  it,  was  worth  the  liking.  He  had  come  to 
America  a  lad  of  ten.  He  lived  for  twelve  years  in 
New  York  City,  attended  the  schools,  and  was  in  his 
last  year  in  the  High  School  when,  for  some  wild 
freak,  he  had  been  expelled.  He  worked  two  years 
in  a  Lake  Superior  copper  mine,  then  went  to  Cali 
fornia  and  worked  there  until  lured  to  Nevada  by  the 
silver  mines,  and  had  been  on  the  Comstock  five 
years  when  the  Club  was  formed. 

Harding  was  the  boy  of  the  company,  only  twen 
ty-two  years  of  age,  a  native  California  lad.  But  he 
was  hardly  a  type  of  his  State.  His  eyes  were  of 
that  shade  of  gray  which  looks  black  in  the  night  ; 
his  hair  was  auburn.  He  had  a  splendid  form, 
though  it  was  not  quite  filled  out ;  his  head  was  a 
sovereign  one.  But  he  was  reticent  almost  to  seri 
ousness,  and  it  was  in  this  respect  that  he  did  not 


24  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

seem  quite  like  a  California  boy.  There  was  a  rea 
son  for  it.  He  was  the  son  of  an  Argonaut  who  had 
been  reckless  in  business  and  most  indulgent  to  his 
boy.  He  had  a  big  farm  near  Los  Angeles,  and 
shares  in  mines  all  over  the  coast.  The  boy  had 
grown  up  half  on  the  farm  and  half  in  the  city.  He 
was  an  adept  in  his  studies  ;  he  was  just  as  much  an 
adept  when  it  came  to  riding  a  wild  horse.  He  had 
gained  a  good  education  and  was  just  entering  the 
senior  class  in  college  when  his  father  suddenly  died. 
He  mourned  for  his  father  exceedingly,  and  when 
his  affairs  were  investigated  it  was  found  there  was  a 
mortgage  on  the  old  home.  He  believed  there  was  a 
future  for  the  land.  So  he  made  an  arrangement  to 
meet  the  interest  on  the  mortgage  annually,  then 
went  to  San  Francisco,  obtained  an  order  on  a  Corn- 
stock  superintendent  for  employment,  went  at  once 
to  Virginia  City  and  took  up  his  regular  labor  as  a 
miner.  He  had  been  thus  employed  for  a  year  when 
the  Club  was  formed. 

This  was  the  company  that  had  formed  a  mess. 
Miller  had  worked  up  the  scheme.  It  had  been  left 
to  Miller  to  prepare  the  house — to  buy  the  necessary 
materials  for  beginning  housekeeping,  like  procuring 
the  dishes,  knives  and  forks  and  spoons,  and  benches 
or  cheap  chairs,  for  the  dining-room,  and  it  was 
agreed  to  begin  on  the  next  pay-day. 


CHAPTER  II. 

About  four  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day  ap 
pointed  for  commencing  housekeeping,  our  miners 
gathered  at  their  new  home.  The  provisions,  bedding 
and  chairs  had  been  sent  in  advance,  in  care  of  Miller, 
who  had  remained  above  ground  that  day  in  order 
to  have  things  in  apple-pie  shape.  The  chairs  were 
typical  of  the  men.  Brewster's  was  a  common,  old- 
fashioned  flag-bottom  affair,  worth  about  three  dol 
lars.  Carlin  and  Wright  each  had  comfortable  arm 
chairs  ;  Ashley  and  Harding  had  neat  office  chairs, 
while  Miller  and  Corrigan  had  heavy  upholstered 
arm-chairs,  which  cost  sixty  dollars  each.  When  all 
laughed  at  Brewster's  chair,  he  merely  answered  that 
it  would  do,  and  when  Miller  and  Corrigan  were 
asked  what  on  earth  they  had  purchased  such  out-of- 
place  furniture  for,  to  put  in  a  miner's  cabin,  Miller 
answered,  "  I  got  trusted  and  didn't  want  to  make  a 
bill  for  nothing,"  and  Corrigan  said :  "  To  tell  the 
truth,  1  was  not  over-much  posted  on  this  furniture 
business  ;  I  did  not  want  to  invist  in  too  chape  an 
article,  so  I  ordered  the  best  in  the  thavin'  establish 
ment,  because  you  know  a  good  article  is  always 
chape,  no  matter  what  the  cost  may  be." 

The  next  thing  in  order  was  to  compare  the  bills 
for  provisions. 


26  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

Brewster  drew  his  bill  from  his  pocket  and  read  as 
follows:  Twenty  pounds  bacon,  $7.50;  forty  pounds 
potatoes,  $1.60;  ten  pounds  coffee,  $3.75;  one  sack 
flour,  $4.00;  cream  tartar  and  salaratus,  $1.00;  ten 
pounds  sugar,  $2.75;  pepper,  salt  and  mustard  ,$1.50; 
ten  pounds  prunes,  $2.50  ;  one  bottle  XXX  for  medi 
cine,  $2.00;  total,  $32.60.  The  bill  was  receipted. 

The  bills  of  Wright  and  Harding  each  comprised 
about  the  same  list,  and  amounted  to  about  the  same 
sum.  They,  too,  were  receipted.  The  funny  fea 
tures  were  that  each  one  had  purchased  nearly  similar 
articles,  and  the  last  item  on  each  of  the  bills  was  a 
charge  of  $2.00  for  medicine.  It  had  been  agreed 
that  no  liquor  should  be  bought  except  for  medicine. 

The  bills  of  Carlin  and  Ashley  were  not  different  in 
variety,  but  each  had  purchased  in  larger  quantities,  so 
that  those  bills  footed  up  about  $45  each.  On  each 
of  these  bills,  too,  was  an  item  of  $5.75  for  demijohn 
and  "half  gallon  of  whisky  for  medicine."  All  were 
receipted. 

Corrigan's  bill  amounted  to  $73,  including  one-half 
gallon  of  whisky  and  one  bottle  of  brandy  "  for  medi 
cine,"  and  his,  too,  was  receipted. 

Miller  read  last.  His  bill  had  a  little  more  variety, 
and  amounted  to  $97.16.  The  last  item  was:  "To 
demijohn  and  one  gallon  whisky  for  medicine,  $8.00." 
On  this  bill  was  a  credit  for  $30.00. 

A  general  laugh  followed  the  reading  of  these  bills. 
The  variety  expected  was  hardly  realized.  As  Cor- 
rigan  remarked,  "  The  bills  lack  somewhat  in  versa 
tility,  but  there  is  no  doubt  about  there  being  plenty 
of  food  of  the  kind  and  no  end  to  the  medicine." 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  2J 

When  the  laugh  had  subsided,  Brewster  said : 
"  Miller  estimated  that  our  provisions  would  not  cost 
to  exceed  $15.00  per  month  apiece.  I  tried  to  be 
reasonable  and  bought  about  enough  for  two  months, 
but  here  we  have  a  shipload.  Why  did  you  buy  out 
a  store,  Miller  ?" 

"  I  had  to  make  a  bill,  and  I  didn't  want  the  grocery 
man  to  think  we  were  paupers,"  retorted  Miller. 

"  How  much  were  the  repairs  on  the  house,  Mil 
ler?"  asked  Carlin. 

"There's  the  beggar's  bill.  It's  a  dead  swindle, 
and  I  told  him  so.  He  ought  to  have  been  a  plumber. 
He  had,  by  the  Eternal !  He  has  no  more  conscience 
than  a  Police  Judge.  Here's  the  scoundrel's  bill," 
said  Miller,  excitedly,  as  he  proceeded  to  read  the 
following  : 

"  'To  repairing  roof,  $17.50;  twenty  battens,  $4.00; 
to  putting  on  battens,  $3.00 ;  hanging  one  door, 
$3.50;  six  lights  glass,  $3.00;  setting  same,  $3.00; 
lumber,  $4.80;  putting  up  bunks,  $27.50;  total 
$66.30.' 

"  The  man  is  no  better  than  a  thief  ;  if  he  is,  I'm  a 
sinner." 

"You  bought  some  dishes,  did  you  not,  Miller?" 
inquired  Ashley.  "  How  much  did  they  amount  to?" 

"There's  another  scalper,"  answered  Miller,  warm 
ly.  "  I  told  him  we  wanted  a  few  dishes,  knives, 
forks,  etc. — just  enough  for  seven  men  to  cabin  with 
— and  here  is  the  bill.  It  foots  up  to  $53.37.  A  bill 
for  wood  also  amounts  to  $19.00;  two  extra  chairs, 
$6.00." 


28  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

Brewster,  who  had  been  making  a  memorandum, 
spoke  up  and  said :  "  If  I  have  made  no  error  the 
account  stands  as  follows  : 

Provisions $35  7. 56 

Crockery,  knives,  forks,  etc., 53-37 

Wood 1 9.00 

Repairs 66. 50 

One  month's  rent 50.00 

One  month's  water, 7.00 

Chairs..  6.00 


Making  a  total  of $559-43 

Or,  in  round  numbers,  $80.00  per  capita  for  us  all. 
I  settled  my  account  at  the  store,  amounting  to 
$32.60,  which  leaves  $47.40  as  my  proportion  of  the 
balance.  Here  is  the  money." 

This  was  like  Brewster.  Some  of  the  others  set 
tled  and  a  part  begged  off  until  next  pay-day. 

The  next  question  was  about  the  cooking.  After 
a  brief  debate  it  was  determined  that  all  should  join 
in  getting  up  the  first  supper.  So  one  rushed  to  a 
convenient  butcher  shop  and  soon  returned  with  a 
basket  full  of  porterhouse  steaks,  sweetbreads  and 
lamb  chops  ;  another  prepared  the  potatoes  and  put 
them  in  the  oven  ;  another  attended  to  the  fire  ;  an 
other  to  setting  the  table.  Brewster  was  delegated 
to  make  the  coffee.  To  Corrigan  was  ascribed  the 
task  of  cooking  the  meats,  while  Miller  volunteered 
to  make  biscuits  that  would  "touch  their  hearts." 
He  mixed  the  ingredients  in  the  usual  way  and 
thoroughly  kneeded  the  dough.  He  then,  with  the 
big  portion  of  a  whisky  bottle  for  a  rolling-pin, 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.-  29 

rolled  the  dough  out  about  a  fourth  of  an  inch  thick. 
He  next  touched  it  gently  all  over  with  half-melted 
butter ;  rolled  the  thin  sheet  into  a  large  roll ;  then 
with  the  bottle  reduced  this  again  to  the  required  thick 
ness  for  biscuits,  and,  with  a  tumbler,  cut  them  out. 
His  biscuit  trick  he  had  learned  from  an  old  Hun 
garian,  who,  for  a  couple  of  seasons,  had  been  his 
mining  partner.  It  is  an  art  which  many  a  fine  lady 
would  be  glad  to  know.  The  result  is  a  biscuit  which 
melts  like  cream  in  the  mouth — like  a  fair  woman's 
smile  on  a  hungry  eye. 

Corrigan  had  his  sweetbreads  frying,  and  when  the 
biscuits  were  put  in  the  oven,  the  steak  and  the 
chops  were  put  on  to  broil.  The  steak  had  been 
salted  and  peppered — miner's  fashion — and  over  it 
slices  of  bacon,  cut  thin  as  wafers,  had  been  laid. 
The  bacon,  under  the  heat,  shriveled  up  and  rolled 
off  into  the  fire,  but  not  until  its  flavor  had  been 
given  to  the  steak.  One  of  the  miners  had  opened  a 
couple  of  cans  of  preserved  pineapples ;  the  coffee 
was  hot,  the  meats  and  the  biscuits  were  ready,  and 
so  the  supper  was  served.  Harding  had  placed  the 
chairs  ;  Brewster's  was  at  the  head  of  the  table. 

Corrigan  waited  until  all  the  others  had  taken 
their  seats  at  the  table  ;  then,  with  a  glass  in  his 
hand  and  a  demijohn  thrown  over  his  right  elbow,  he 
stepped  forward  and  said  : 

"  To  didicate  the  house,  and  also  as  a  medicine,  I 
prescribe  for  aich  patient  forty  drops." 

Each  took  his  medicine  resignedly,  and  as  the  last 
one  returned  the  glass,  Corrigan  added :  "  It  appears 
to  me  I  am  not  faling  ony  too  well  mesilf,"  and 


30  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

either  as  a  remedy  or  preventive,  he  took  some  of  the 
medicine. 

The  supper  was  ravenously  swallowed  by  the  men, 
who  for  months  had  eaten  nothing  but  miner's  board 
ing-house  fare.  With  one  voice  they  declared  that  it 
was  the  first  real  meal  they  had  eaten  for  weeks,  and 
•  over  their  coffee  they  drank  long  life  to  housekeep 
ing  and  confusion  to  boarding-houses. 

When  the  supper  was  over  and  the  things  put 
away  the  pipes  were  lighted.  By  this  time  the 
shadow  of  Mount  Davidson  around  them  had  melted 
into  the  gloom  of  night,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
months  these  men  settled  themselves  down  to  spend 
an  evening  at  home.  It  was  a  new  experience. 

"  It  is  just  splendid,"  cried  Wright.  "  No  beer,  no 
billiards,  no  painted  nymphs,  no  chance  for  a  row. 
We  have  been  sorry  fools  for  months — for  years,  for 
that  matter — or  we  would  have  opened  business  at 
this  stand  long  ago." 

"  We  have,  indeed,"  said  Ashley.  "  To-night  we 
make  a  new  departure.  What  shall  we  call  our  mess  ? " 

Many  names  were  suggested,  but  finally  "  The 
Comstock  Club "  was  proposed  and  the  nomination 
carried  by  acclamation. 

It  was  agreed,  too,  that  no  other  members,  except 
honorary  members,  should  be  admitted,  and  no  politics 
talked.  Then  the  conversation  became  general,  and 
later,  confidential ;  and  each  member  of  the  Club  un 
covered  a  little  his  heart  and  his  hopes. 

Miller  meant,  so  soon  as  he  "  made  a  little  stake," 
to  go  down  to  San  Francisco  and  assault  the  stock 
sharps  right  in  their  Pine  and  California  street  dens. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  3! 

He  believed  he  had  discovered  the  rule  which  could 
reduce  stock  speculation  to  an  exact  science,  and  he 
was  anxious  for  the  opportunity  which  a  little  capital 
would  afford,  "  to  show  those  sharpers  at  the  Bay  a 
trick  or  two  which  they  had  never  yet  '  dropped 
on."  He  added,  patronizingly  :  "I  will  lend  you  all 
so  much  money,  by  and  by,  that  each  of  you  will 
have  enough  to  start  a  bank." 

"  I  shtarted  a  bank  alridy,  all  be  mesilf,  night  be 
fore  last,"  said  Corrigan. 

"What  kind  of  a  bank  was  it,  Barney?"  asked 
Harding. 

"  One  of  King  Pharo's.  I  put  a  twinty-dollar  pace 
upon  the  Quane ;  that  shtarted  the  bank.  The  chap 
on  the  other  side  of  the  table  commenced  to  pay  out 
the  pictures,  and  the  Quane " 

''Well,  what  of  the  Queen,  Barney?"  asked  Carlin. 

"  She  fill  down  be  the  side  of  the  sardane  box,  and 
the  chap  raked  in  me  double  agle." 

"  How  do  you  like  that  style  of  banking,  Barney  ?" 
asked  Ashley. 

"  Oh  !  It's  mighty  plisant  and  enthertainin',  of 
coorse  ;  the  business  sames  to  be  thransacted  with  a 
grate  dale  of  promptness  a.nd  dispatch  ;  the  only 
drawback  sames  to  be  that  the  rates  of  ixchange  are 
purty  high." 

Tom  Carlin  knew  of  a  great  farm,  a  store,  a  flour 
mill,  and  a  hazel-eyed  girl  back  in  Illinois.  He  cov 
eted  them  all,  but  was  determined  to  possess  the  girl 
anyway.  After  a  little  persuasion,  he  showed  her 
picture  to  the  Club.  They  all  praised  it  warmly, 
and  Corrigan  declared  she  was  a  daisy.  In  a  neat 


32  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

hand  on  the  bottom  of  the  picture  was  written : 
"  With  love,  Susie  Richards."  Carlin  always  referred 
to  her  as  "  Susie  Dick." 

Harding,  upon  being  rallied,  explained  that  his 
father  came  with  the  Argonauts  to  the  West ;  that  he 
was  brilliant,  but  over-generous  ;  that  he  had  lived 
fast  and  with  his  purse  open  to  every  one,  and  had 
died  while  yet  in  his  prime,  leaving  an  encumbered 
estate,  which  must  be  cleared  of  its  indebtedness  that 
no  stain  might  rest  upon  the  name  of  Harding. 
There  was  a  gleam  in  the  dark  eyes,  and  a  ring  to 
the  voice  of  the  boy  as  he  spoke,  that  kindled  the 
admiration  of  the  Club,  and  when  he  ceased  speaking, 
Miller  reached  out  and  shook  his  hand,  saying  :  "You 
shall  have  the  money,  my  boy  !  " 

Back  in  Massachusetts,  Brewster  had  met  with  a 
whole  train  of  misfortunes  ;  his  property  had  become 
involved  ;  his  wife  had  died — his  voice  lowered  and 
grew  husky  when  mentioning  this.  He  had  two  little 
girls,  Mabel  and  Mildred.  He  had  kept  his  children 
at  school  and  paid  their  way  despite  the  iron  fortune 
that  had  hedged  him  about,  and  he  was  working  to 
shield  them  from  all  the  sorrows  possible,  without 
the  aid  of  the  saint  who  had  gone  to  heaven.  The 
Club  was  silent  for  a  moment,  when  the  strong  man 
added,  solemnly,  and  as  if  to  himself :  "Who  knows 
that  she  does  not  help  us  still  ?" 

In  his  youth,  Brewster  acquired  the  trade  of  a 
mechanical  engineer.  At  this  time,  as  we  learned 
before,  he  was  running  a  power  drill  in  the  Bullion. 
He  was  a  great  reader  and  was  thorough  on  many 
subjects. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 


33 


Wright  had  his  eyes  on  a  stock  range  in  Califor 
nia,  where  the  land  was  cheap,  the  pasturage  fine,  the 
water  abundant,  and  where,  with  the  land  and  a  few 
head  of  stock  for  a  beginning,  a  man  would  in  a  few 
years  be  too  rich^to  count  his  money.  He  had  been 
accustomed  to  stock  when  a  boy  in  Missouri,  and 
was  sure  that  there  was  more  fun  in  chasing  a  wild 
steer  with  a  good  mustang  than  in  finding  the  biggest 
silver  mine  in  America. 

Ashley  had  gained  some  new  ideas  since  coming 
West.  He  believed  he  knew  a  cheap  farm  back  in 
Pennsylvania  that,  with  thorough  cultivation,  would 
yield  plentifully.  There  were  coal  and  iron  mines 
there  also,  which  he  could  open  in  a  way  to  make 
old  fogies  in  that  country  bat  their  eyes.  He  knew, 
too,  of  a  district  there,  where  a  man,  if  he  behaved 
himself,  might  be  elected  to  Congress.  It  was  plain, 
from  his  talk,  that  he  had  some  ambitious  plans  ma 
turing  in  his  mind. 

Corrigan  had  an  old  mother  in  New  York.  He  was 
going  to  have  a  few  acres  of  land  after  awhile  in  Cal 
ifornia,  where  grapes  and  apricots  would  grow,  and 
chickens  and  pigs  would  thrive  and  be  happy.  He 
was  going  to  fix  the  place  to  his  own  notion,  then  was 
going  to  send  for  his  mother,  and  when  she  came, 
every  day  thereafter  he  was  going  to  look  into  the 
happiest  old  lady's  eyes  between  the  seas. 

So  they  talked,  and  did  not  note  how  swiftly  the 
night  was  speeding,  until  the  deep  whistle  of  the  Nor- 
cross  hoisting  engine  sounded  for  the  eleven  o'clock 
shift,  and  in  an  instant  was  followed  by  all  the  whistles 
up  and  down  the  great  lode. 


34 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 


Then  the  good  nights  were  said,  and  in  ten  minutes 
the  lights  were  extinguished  and  the  mantles  of  night 
and  silence  were  wrapped  around; the  house. 


CHAPTER  III. 

An  early  breakfast  was  prepared  by  the  whole  Club, 
as  the  supper  of  the  previous  evening  had  been.  The 
miners  had  to  be  at  the  mines  where  they  worked 
promptly  at  seven  o'clock,  to  take  the  places  of  the 
men  who  had  worked  since  eleven  o'clock  the  pre 
vious  night. 

While  at  breakfast  the  door  of  the  house  was  softly 
opened  and  a  Chinaman  showed  his  face.  He  ex 
plained  that  he  was  a  "belly  good  cook,"  and  would 
like  to  work  for  ten  dollars  a  week. 

Carlin  was  nearest  the  door,  and  in  a  bantering  tone 
opened  a  conversation  with  the  Mongolian. 

"  What  is  your  name,  John  ?" 

"Yap  Sing." 

"Are  you  a  good  cook,  sure,  Yap  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  me  belly  good  cook ;  me.  cookee  beef 
steak,  chickee,  turkee,  goosee  ;  me  makee  bled,  pie, 
ebbything  ;  me  belly  good  cook." 

"  Have  you  any  cousins,  Yap  " 

"  No  couzee  ;  no  likee  couzee." 

"  Do  you  get  drunk,  Yap  ?" 

"  No  gettee  dlunk  ;  no  likee  blandy." 

"  Do  you  smoke  opium  ?  " 

"  No  iikee  smokee  opium.  You  sabbee  one  man 
smokee  opium,  littee  while  he  all  same  one  fool ;  all 
same  one  d d  monkey." 

35 


36  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  Suppose  we  were  to  hire  you,  Yap,  how  long  would 
it  take  you  to  steal  everything  in  the  ranch  ?" 

"  Me  no  stealee  ;  me  no  likee  stealee." 

"  Now,  Yap,  suppose  we  hire  you  and  we  all  go  off 
to  the  mines  and  leave  you  here,  and  some  one  comes 
and  wants  to  buy  bacon  and  beans  and  flour  and 
sugar,  what  would  you  do  ?" 

"  Me  no  sellee." 

"  Suppose  some  one  comes  and  wants  to  steal 
things,  what  then  ?" 

"Me  cuttee  his  ears  off;  me  cuttee  his  d d 

throat." 

At  this  Brewster  interposed  and  said  :  "  I  believe 
it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  engage  this  Chinaman. 
We  are  away  and  the  place  is  unprotected  all  day ; 
besides,  after  a  man  has  worked  all  day  down  in  the 
hot  levels  of  the  Comstock,  he  does  not  feel  like  cook 
ing  his  own  dinner.  Let  us  give  John  a  trial." 

It  was  agreed  to.  Yap  Sing  was  duly  installed. 
He  was  instructed  to  have  supper  promptly  at  six 
o'clock ;  orders  were  given  him  on  the  markets  for 
fresh  meat,  vegetables,  etc.  From  the  remnants  of 
the  breakfast  the  dinner  buckets  were  filled  and  the 
men  went  away  to  their  work. 

Yap  Sing  proved  to  be  an  artist  in  his  way.  When 
the  members  of  the  Club  met  again  at  their  home,  a 
splendid,  hot  supper  was  waiting  for  them.  They 
ate,  as  hungry  miners  do,  congratulating  themselves 
that,  as  it  were  from  the  sky,  an  angel  of  a  heathen 
had  dropped  down  upon  them. 

After  supper,  when  the  pipes  were  lighted,  the 
conversation  of  the  previous  evening  was  resumed. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  37 

The  second  night  brought  out  something  of  the 
history  of  each.  They  had  nearly  all  lived  in  Cali 
fornia  ;  some  had  wandered  the  Golden  Coast  all 
over  ;  all  had  roughed  it,  and  each  had  an  experience 
to  relate.  These  evening  visits  soon  became  very 
enjoyable  to  the  members  of  the  Club,  and  the  friend 
ship  of  the  members  for  each  other  increased  as  they 
the  more  thoroughly  knew  the  inner  lives  of  each 
other. 

On  this  night,  Wright  was  the  last  to  speak  of 
himself.  When  he  had  concluded,  Ashley  said  to 
him  :  "  Wright,  you  have  had  some  lively  experi 
ences.  What  is  the  most  impressive  scene  that  you 
ever  witnessed  ?" 

"  I  hardly  know,"  Wright  replied.  "  I  think  maybe 
a  mirage  that  was  painted  for  me,  one  day,  out  on  the 
desert,  this  side  of  the  Sink  of  the  Humboldt,  when  I 
was  crossing  the  plains,  shook  me  up  about  as  much 
as  anything  that  ever  overtook  me,  except  the  chills 
and  fever  which  I  used  to  have  when  a  boy,  back  in 
Missouri.  For  only  a  picture  it  was  right  worri 
some." 

The  Club  wanted  to  hear  about  it,  and  so  Wright 
proceeded  as  follows : 

"  We  had  been  having  rough  times  for  a  good 
while ;  thar  had  been  sickness  in  the  train  ;  some  of 
the  best  animals  had  been  poisoned  with  alkali ;  thar 
had  been  some  Injunscares — itwasin*57 — andweaH 
had  been  broken,  more  or  less,  of  our  rest ;  I,  in 
particular,  was  a  good  deal  jolted  up ;  was  nervous 
and  full  of  starts  and  shivers.  I  suspect  thar  was  a 
little  fever  on  me.  We  halted  one  morning  on  the 


38  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

desert,  to  rest  the  stock  and  make  some  coffee.  It  was 
about  eight  o'clock.  We  had  been  traveling  since 
sundown  the  night  before,  crossing  the  great  desert, 
and  hoped  to  reach  the  Truckee  River  that  afternoon. 

"  While  resting,  a  mighty  desire  took  possession  of 
me  to  see  the  river,  and  to  feel  that  the  desert  was 
crossed. 

"  I  had  a  saddle  mule  that  was  still  in  good  condi 
tion.  I  had  petted  him  since  he  was  three  days  old, 
had  broken  him,  and  he  and  myself  •  were  the  best  of 
friends.  His  mother  was  a  thoroughbred  Kentucky 
mare ;  from  her  he  had  inherited  his  courage  and 
staying  qualities,  while  he  had  also  just  enough  of  his 
father's  stubbornness  to  be  useful,  for  it  held  his  heart 
up  to  the  work  when  things  got  rough. 

"  I  looked  over  the  train  ;  it  was  all  right ;  I  was 
not  needed  ;  would  not  be  any  more  that  day. 

"  The  mule  was  brought  up  in  the  Osage  hills,  and 
I  had  named  him  Osage,  which  after  awhile  became 
contracted  to  Sage.  I  went  to  him  and  looked  him 
over.  He  was  quietly  munching  a  bacon  sack.  I 
took  a  couple  of  quarts  of  wheaten  flour,  mixed  it  into 
a  soft  paste  with  water  from  one  of  the  kegs  which 
had  been  brought  along  and  gave  it  to  him.  He 
drank  it  as  a  hungry  boy  drinks  porridge,  and  licked 
the  dish  clean.  The  journey  had  impressed  upon  him 
the  absolute  need  of  exercising  the  closest  economy. 

"  When  he  had  finished  his  rather  light  breakfast, 
I  whispered  to  him  that  if  he  would  stand  in  with  me 
I  would  show  him,  before  night,  the  prettiest  stream 
of  water — snow  water — in  the  world.  I  think  he  un 
derstood  me  perfectly.  Telling  the  people  of  the 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  39 

train  that  I  would  go  ahead  and  look  out  a  camping 
place,  I  took  my  shotgun,  put  a  couple  of  biscuits  in 
my  pocket,  and  mounted  Sage.  He  struck  out  at 
once  on  his  long,  swinging  walk. 

"  It  was  an  August  morning  and  had  been  hot  ever 
since  the  sun  rose.  That  is  a  feature  out  thar  on  the 
desert  in  the  summer.  The  nights  get  cold,  but  so 
soon  as  the  sun  comes  up,  it  is  like  going  down  into 
the  Comstock.  In  fifteen  minutes  everything  is  steam 
ing.  Old  Ben  Allen,  down  on  the  borders  of  the 
Cherokee  Nation,  never  of  a  morning  warmed  up  his 
niggers  any  livelier  than  the  sun  does  the  desert. 

"  I  rode  for  a  couple  of  hours.  As  I  said,  I  was 
weak  and  nervous.  In  the  sand,  Sage's  feet  hardly 
made  any  sound,  and  the  glare  and  the  silence  of  the 
desert  were  around  and  upon  me.  If  you  never  ex 
perienced  it  you  don't  know  what  the  silence  of  the 
desert  means.  Take  a  day  when  the  winds  are  laid ; 
when  in  all  directions,  as  far  as  your  vision  extends, 
thar  is  not  a  moving  thing ;  when  all  you  can  see  is 
the  brazen  sky  overhead  and  the  scarred  breast  of  the 
earth,  as  if  smitten  and  transfixed  by  Thor's  thunder 
bolts,  lying  prone  and  desolate  like  the  face  of  a  dead 
world,  before  you ;  and  withal,  not  one  sound ;  abso 
lute  stillness ;  and  strong  nerves  after  awhile  become 
strained.  On  me,  that  forenoon,  my  surroundings  be 
came  almost  unbearable.  I  had  been  on  foot  driving 
team  all  night ;  I  had  eaten  nothing  since  midnight, 
and  then  had  only  forced  down  a  small  slice  of  bread 
and  a  cup  of  horrible  black  coffee,  and  was  really  not 
more  than  half  myself.  One  moment  I  was  chilly ; 
the  next  was  perspiring,  and  sometimes  it  seemed  as 


40  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

though  1  should  suffocate.  With  my  nerves  strung 
up  as  they  were,  I  guess  it  would  not  have  required 
much  to  give  me  a  panic. 

"Just  then,  out  against  the  sun  to  the  southward, 
and  apparently  a  mile  away,  I  saw  something.  Talk 
about  being  impressed  !  that  was  my  time.  I  was 
sure  I  saw  five  hundred  Indian  warriors,  all  mounted. 
They  were  wheeling  in  black  squadrons  on  the  desert, 
wheeling  and  forming,  as  I  thought.  Horses  and 
men  were  all  black, and  now  and  then  as  they  wheeled 
or  swung  to  and  fro,  I  marked  what  I  was  sure  was  the 
gleam  of  steel.  They  evidently  had  seen  me  ;  I  ex 
pected  every  moment  to  hear  their  yell  and  wondered 
that  1  did  not  feel  the  tremble  of  the  earth  beneath 
their  horses'  feet  ;  I  was  too  nearly  paralyzed  to  try 
to  escape.  I  slipped  or  fell,  I  don't  know  which, 
from  my  mule,  and  lay  panting  like  a  tired  hound 
upon  the  sand.  But  I  could  not  keep  my  eyes  from 
the  terrible  sight  before  me.  Still  those  tawny  war 
riors  kept  wheeling  and  forming,  and,  as  I  believed, 
menacing  me. 

"  At  length  I  grew  a  little  calmer,  and  remember 
that  I  explained  to  myself  that  the  reason  I  did  not 
hear  the  thunder  of  their  horses'  feet  was  because  of 
the  sand,  and  from  the  fact  that  the  ponies  could  not 
be  shod.  But  I  wondered  more  and  more  where  an 
Indian  tribe  could  get  so  many  black  horses. 

"Once,  when  they  seemed  particularly  furious,  and 
just  on  the  point  of  charging  down  upon  me,  I  re 
member  that  I  said  to  myself  :  '  If  they  eat  me  they 
will  have  to  broil  me  in  the  sun,  for  thar  is  no  fuel 
here.'  All  the  time,  too,  I  was  pitying  Sage,  and  my 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  4! 

own  voice  tnghtened  me  as  I  unconsciously  said  : 
'  Poor  Sage,  it  is  a  hard  fate  to  be  faithful  and  surfer 
as  you  have  and  then  fall  into  the  hands  of  savages.' 

"When  a  little  more  under  my  own  control,  I 
cautiously  rose  to  my  feet  and  looked  at  the  mule. 
It  was  no  use.  On  top  of  the  fatigue  of  coming  quite 
two  thousand  miles,  he  had  on  that  morning  been 
constantly  traveling  for  fourteen  hours,  with  only 
two  rests  of  thirty  minutes  each.  He  never  could  get 
away  from  those  fresh  ponies.  I  looked  back  in  the 
direction  of  the  train  ;  it  was  nowhar  in  sight  and 
must  have  been  back  probably  five  miles. 

"In  this  strait  I  looked  up  again  toward  my  sav 
ages.  At  that  very  moment  the  charge  commenced  ; 
the  whole  array  was  bearing  down  upon  me.  I  took 
my  gun  from  the  horn  of  the  saddle  and  sat  down  on 
the  ground.  I  felt — but  no  matter  how  I  felt  ;  I  only 
know  that  at  that  moment  I  would  have  given  my  note 
for  a  large  sum  to  have  been  back  in  Missouri. 

"  On  they  swept,  and  I  watched  them  coming.  But 
somehow  they  began  to  grow  smaller  and  smaller,  and 
in  an  instant  more  the  squadron  vanished.  Where 
the  moment  before  an  armed  band,  terrible  with  life 
and  bristling  with  fury,  had  shone  upon  my  eyes,  now 
to  be  seen  was  a  flock  of  perhaps  twenty  ravens,  fly 
ing  with  short  flights,  and  hopping  and  lighting  around 
some  little  thing,  which  lay  above  the  level  of  the 
desert.  I  mounted  Sage  and  rode  out  to  the  spot, 
some  four  hundred  yards  away. 

"  I  found  another  road,  and  strung  along  it  were 
the  carcasses  of  a  good  many  cattle  that  had  died  in 
emigrant  trains.  The  ravens  were  hopping  about 


42  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

these  carcasses  and  flying  from  one  to  another.  I  had 
heard  of  the  mirage  of  the  desert,  when  a  boy  in 
school,  and  suddenly  I  'dropped  upon  '  the  whole  bus 
iness.  By  some  mighty  refraction  of  the  beams  of 
light,  these  miserable  scavengers  of  the  desert  had 
been  magnified  into  formidable  mounted  warriors, 

o 

and  the  glint  of  steel  that  I  had  seen  was  but  the 
shimmer  of  sunbeams  upon  their  black  wings. 

"Again  I  headed  Sage  for  the  river.  In  a  little 
while  he  commenced  to  stretch  out  his  nose ;  soon,  of 
his  own  accord,  he  quickened  his  pace  to  a  trot,  a 
little  later  he  took  up  his  long  lope  and  never  relaxed 
his  speed  until  he  drove  his  nose  into  the  delicious 
water  of  the  Truckee.  I  dismounted  and  joined  him. 
Right  there  we  each  took  the  biggest  and  longest 
drink  of  our  lives ;  then  I  gave  Sage  one  of  my  bis 
cuits  and  ate  the  other  myself,  and  we  both  felt  im 
mensely  refreshed.  I  stripped  the  saddle  and  bridle 
from  the  mule  and  let  him  go.  The  river  bank  was 
green  with  grass  and  Sage  was  happy. 

"Throwing  myself  upon  the  ground,  and  laying 
my  head  upon  the  saddle,  I  composed  myself  for  a 
sleep. 

"  I  was  greatly  in  need  of  sleep,  but  the  moment 
I  closed  my  eyes  here  came  my  black  cavalry  charg 
ing  down  upon  me  again,  and  I  sprang  up  with  a  cry. 
Of  all  impressive  scenes,  that  was  my  biggest  one, 
sure.  I  see  it  in  my  dreams  still,  at  times,  and  I 
never,  from  this  mountain  side,  look  down  to  where 
the  sand-clouds  are  piling  up  their  dunes  over  toward 
the  Sink  of  the  Carson,  that  I  do  not  instinctively 
take  one  furtive  glance  in  search  of  my  savages." 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  43 

"  I  had  a  livelier  mirage  than  that,  once,"  said 
Miller,  with  a  laugh.  "  I  was  prospecting  for  quartz 
in  the  foothills  of  Rogue  River  Valley,  Oregon,  and 
looking  up,  I  thought  I  saw  on  a  hill-side  four  or  five 
deer,  lying  under  a  tree  about  three  hundred  yards 
away.  I  raised  the  sight  of  my  gun,  took  as  good 
aim  as  I  could  on  horseback,  and  blazed  away.  In  a 
second,  four  of  those  Rogue  River  Indians  sprang 
from  the  ground  and  made  for  me.  I  had  a  good 
horse,  but  they  ran  me  six  miles  before  they  gave  up 
the  chase.  No  more  mirages  like  that  for  me,  if  you 
please." 

"  I  had  a  worse  one  than  ayther  of  yez,"  chimed 
in  Corrigan.  "  It  was  in  that  tough  winter  of  '69.  I 
had  been  placer  minin'  up  by  Pine  Grove,  in  Califor 
nia,  all  summer.  I  had  a  fair  surface  claim,  and  by 
wurkin'  half  the  time,  I  paid  me  way  and  had  a  few 
dollars  besides.  The  other  half  of  the  time  I  was 
wurkin'  upon  a  dape  cut,  through  bid  rock,  to  get  a 
fall  in  which  I  could  place  heavy  sluices,  and  calcu 
lated  that  with  the  spring  I  could  put  in  a  pipe,  and 
hydraulic  more  ground  in  one  sason  than  I  could 
wurk  in  the  ould  way  in  tin.  One  day,  late  in  the 
autumn,  I  went  up  to  La  Porte  to  buy  supplies,  and 
on  the  night  that  I  made  that  camp  it  began  to  snow. 
Whin  once  it  got  shtarted,  it  just  continued  to  snow, 
as  it  can  up  in  those  mountains,  and  niver  '  lit  up'  for 
four  hours  at  a  time  for  thray  wakes.  It  began  to 
look  as  though  the  glacial  period  had  returned  to  the 
wurld. 

"  Whin  I  wint  into  town,  I  put  up  at  Mrs.  O'Kelly's 
boardin'  and  lodgin'  house.  Mrs.  O'Kelly  was  a  big 


44  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

woman,  weighin'  full  two  hundred  pounds,  and  she 
was  a  business  woman.  She  didn't  pertind  to  be  re- 
mainin'  in  La  Porte  jist  for  her  hilth. 

"  But  there  was  a  beautiful  girl  waitin'  on  the 
table  in  Mrs.  O'Kelly's  house.  Her  name  was  Mag 
gie  Murphy,  and  she  was  as  thrim  and  purty  a  girl 
as  yez  would  wish  to  mate.  She  had  bright,  cherry 
ways,  and  whin  she  wint  up  to  a  table  and  sung  out 
'  Soup  ? '  all  the  crockery  in  the  dinin'  room  would 
dance  for  joy. 

"  Of  an  avenin'  I  used,  after  a  few  days,  to  visit  a 
bit  with  Maggie.  Some  one  had  tould  about  the 
camp  that  I  had  a  great  mine,  and  was  all  solid,  and 
I  was  willin'  to  have  the  delusion  kipt  up,  onyway 
until  the  storm  c'ased.  Maggie,  I  have  a  suspicion, 
had  heard  the  same  shtory,  for  she  was  excadin'ly 
gracious  loike  to  me.  One  avenin',  as  I  was  sayin' 
'  good  night ' — we  were  growin'  mighty  familiar  loike 
thin — I  said  '  Maggie,'  says  I,  '  the  last  woman  I  iver 
kissed  was  my  ould  mother ;  may  I  not  kiss  you,  for 
I  love  you,  darlint?'  '  Indade  you  shall  not,' says 
she,  but  in  spite  of  that,  somethin'  in  her  eyes  made 
me  bould  loike,  and  I  saized  upon  and  hild  her — but 
she  did  not  hould  so  very  hard — and  I  kissed  her 
upon  chake  and  lips  and  eyes,  and  me  arms  were 
around  her,  and  her  heart  was  throbbin'  warm 
against  mine,  and  me  soul  was  in  the  siventh  heaven. 

"  After  awhile  we  quieted  down  a  bit,  and  with  me 
arms  shtill  around  her,  I  asked,  didn't  she  think  Cor- 
rigan  was  a  purtier  name  nor  Murphy,  and  as  I  could 
not  change  my  name  fur  her  sake,  wouldn't  she 
change  hers  fur  moine  ? 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  45 

"Thin  with  the  tears  shinin'  loike  shtars  in  her 
beautiful  eyes,  she  raised  up  her  arms,  let  them 
shtale  round  me  neck,  and  layin'  her  chake  against 
me  breast,  which  wur  throbbin'  loike  a  stone  bruise, 
said,  said  she,  '  Yis,  Barney,  darlint.' 

"  I  had  never  thought  Barney  was  a  very  beautiful 
name  before,  but  jist  then  it  shtruck  upon  me  ear 
swater  thin  marriage  bells." 

Here  Miller  interrupted  with,  "  You  felt  pretty 
proud  just  then,  did  you  not,  Barney  ?" 

"  The  Koohinoor  would  not  av  made  a  collar  but 
ton  fur  me." 

"  Don't  interrupt  him,  Miller,"  interposed  Carlin  ; 
"  let  Barney  tell  us  the  rest  of  the  story." 

"  There  was  a  sofy  near  by.  I  drew  Maggie  to  it, 
sat  down  and  hild  her  to  me  side.  She  was  pale, 
and  we  were  both  sort  of  trimbly  loike. 

"  We  did  not  talk  much  at  first,  but  after  awhile 
Maggie  said,  suddent,  said  she  :  '  What  a  liar  you 
are,  Barney  ! ' 

"  And  I  said  '  for  why  ? '  And  she  said  '  To  say 
you  had  niver  kissed  a  woman  since  you  had  lift 
your  old  mother.  You  have  had  plinty  of  practice.' 

"  'And  how  do  you  know? '  says  I,  and  thin — but  no 
matther,  we  had  to  begin  all  over  again. 

"  After  awhile  I  wint  away  to  bid,  and  talk  about 
your  mirages  ;  all  that  night  there  was  a  convoy  of 
angels  around  me,  and  the  batein'  of  their  wings  was 
swater  than  the  echoes  that  float  in  whin  saft  music 
comes  from  afar  over  still  wathers. 

"  One  of  the  angels  had  jist  folded  her  wings  and 
taken  the  form  of  Maggie,  and  was  jist  bindin'  over 


46  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

me,  whisperin'  beautiful  loike,  whin,  oh  murther,  I 
was  wakened  with  a  cry  of  :  '  Are  yez  there  now,  ye 
blackguard?'  I  opened  me  eyes,  and  there  shtood 
Mrs.  O' Kelly,  with  a  broomstick  over  her  head,  and 
somethin'  in  her  eye  that  looked  moighty  like  a  cloud 
burst. 

"'Ye  thavin'  villin,'  said  she  'pertindin' to  be  a 
rich  miner,  and  atin'  up  a  poor  woman  all  the  time.' 
Thin  she  broke  down  intoirely  and  commenced 
wailin'. 

"  '  Oh,  Mr.  Corrigan,'  she  howled  through  her  sobs, 
'  how  could  yez  come  here  and  impose  upon  a  unsus- 
pectin'  widdie  ;  you  know  how  hard  I  wurk ;  that  I 
am  up  from  early  mornin'  until  the  middle  of  the 
noight ;  cookin',  and  shwapin'  and  makin'  beds,  and 

slavin'  loike  a  black  niggar,  and '  by  this  time  she 

recovered  her  timper  and  complated  the  sintence 
with  :  '  If  yez  don't  pay  me  at  once  I'll — I'll,  I'll — ' 

"  I  found  breath  enough  after  awhile  to  tell  her  to 
hould  on.  My  pantaloons  were  on  a  chair  within  aisy 
r'ach  ;  I  snatched  thim  up,  sayin'  as  I  did  so  :  '  How 
much  is  your  bill,  Mrs.  O'Kelly  ? ' 

"  '  Thray  wakes  at  iliven  dollars  is  thray  and  thirty 
dollars,  and  one  extra  day  is  a  dollar  and  five  bits,  or 
altogither,  thirty-four  dollars  and  five  bits.' 

"  I  shtill  had  siveral  twinty-dollar  paces  ;  I  plunged 
me  hand  into  the  pocket  of  me  pants,  saized  thim  all, 
thin  let  them  drop  upon  aich  other,  all  but  two,  and 
holdin'  these  out,  said  sharply,  and  shtill  with  the 
grand  air  of  a  millionaire  :  '  The  change,  if  you 
plase,  Mrs.  O'Kelly.' 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  47 

"  She  took  the  money,  gazed  upon  it  a  moment  wid 
a  dazed  and  surprised  look ;  thin  suddenly  her  face 
was  wrathed  in  smiles,  and  as  softly  as  a  woman  with 
her  voice  (it  sounded  loike  a  muffled  threshing  ma 
chine)  could,  said  :  '  Take  your  money,  Mr.  Corri- 
gan,  and  remain  as  long  as  you  plaze.  I  was  only 
jist  after  playin'  a  bit  of  a  trick  upon  yez.  What  do 
yez  think  I  care  for  a  few  beggarly  dollars  ?' 

"  But  I  could  not  see  it ;  I  remained  firm.  Again 
I  said :  '  The  change,  if  you  plase,  Mrs.  O'Kelly,  and 
as  soon,  too,  as  convanient.' 

"  She  brought  me  the  change,  sayin':  '  I'll  have 
your  brikfast  smokin*  hot  for  yez,  in  five  minutes,  Mr. 
Corrigan.' 

"  I  put  on  me  clothes  and  looked  out.  The  storm 
had  worn  itself  out  at  last.  I  wint  down-stairs  to  the 
dinin'  room  door,  and  beckoned  to  Maggie.  She  came 
to  me,  and  there  wur  the  rale  love-light  in  her  beau 
tiful  eyes.  I  can  see  her  now.  She  was  straight  as  a 
pump  rod ;  her  head  sat  upon  her  nick  like  a  picture  ; 
the  nick  itsilf  was  white  loike  snow — but  niver  mind. 
'  Come  out  in  the  hall  a  bit,'  I  whispered,  and  she 
came.  I  clasped  her  hand  for  a  moment  and  said  : 
'It's  goin'  home  I  am,  Maggie  ;  I  am  goin'  to  fix  me 
house  a  little ;  it  will  take  me  forty  days  to  make  me 
arrangements.  If  I  come  thin,  will  you  take  me 
name  and  go  back  with  me  ?' 

"  '  I  will,'  says  she. 

"  '  This  is  the  sivinteenth  of  the  month,  Maggie,  the 
sivinteenth  of  next  month  will  be  thirty  days,  and  tin 
more  will  make  it  the  twinty-sivinth.  If  I  come  thin 
will  yez  go  ?  '  I  asked. 


48  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  '  I  will,  Barney,  dear,'  was  the  answer. 

"'  Have  yez  thought  it  over,  and  will  yez  be  satis 
fied,  darlint?'  I  asked. 

"'  I  have,  Barney;  I  shall  be  satisfied,  and  I  will  be 
a  good  wife  to  yez,  darlint,'  was  the  answer. 

"  Thin  I  hild  out  me  arms  and  she  sprang  into  thim. 
There  was  an  embrace  and  a  kiss  and  thin — 

"  '  Good-bye,  Maggie  ! ' 

"  '  Good-bye,  Barney  ! '  and  I  wint  away. 

"  I  wint  to  a  ristaurant  and  got  a  cup  of  coffee, 
and  was  jist  shtartin'  for  home,  whin  a  frind  came  up 
and  said  :  '  Barney,'  said  he,  '  there's  a  man  here  you 
ought  to  go  and  punch  the  nose  off  of.' 

"  '  What  fur,'  says  I. 

"  '  He's  a  slanderin'  of  yez,'  says  he. 

"  'Who  is  the  mon  and  what  is  he  sayin'?'  says  I. 

"  '  It's  Mike  Dougherty,  the  blacksmith,'  says  he ; 
'  and  he  is  a-sayin'  as  how  your  claim  is  no  account, 
and  that  you  are  a  bummer.' 

"  Me  heart  was  too  light  to  think  of  quarrelin' ;  on 
me  lips  the  honey  of  Maggie's  kiss  was  shtill  warum, 
and  what  did  I  care  what  ony  mon  said.  I  merely 
laughed  and  said  :  '  Maybe  he  is  right,'  and  wint  upon 
me  way." 

With  this  Corrigan  ceased  speaking.  After  a  mo 
ment  or  two  of  silence,  Carlin  said: 

"  Well,  Barney,  how  was  it  in  six  weeks  ?  " 

"  I  had  another  mirage  thin,"  said  Barney.  "  I  wint 
up  to  town  ;  called  at  Mrs.  O'Kelly's  ;  she  mit  me, 
smilin' like,  and  said:  'Walk  in,  Mr.  Corrigan!'  I 
said:  'If  you  plaze,  Mrs.  O'Kelly,  can  I  see  Miss 
Murphy?'  There  was  a  vicious  twinkle  in  her  eye, 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  49 

as  she  answered,  pointin'  to  a  nate  house  upon  the 
hill-side,  as  she  spoke: 

"  '  You  will  find  her  there,  but  her  name  is  changed 
now.  She  was  married  on  Thursday  wake  to  Mr. 
Mike  Dougherty,  the  blacksmith.  A  foine  man,  and 
man  of  properthy,  is  Mr.  Dougherty.' 

"  Talk  about  shtrong  impressions  !  For  a  moment 
I  felt  as  though  I  was  fallin'  down  a  shaft.  I — but 
don't  mention  it." 

Barney  was  still  for  a  moment,  and  then  said,  in  a 
voice  almost  husky  :  "As  I  came  into  town  that  day, 
all  the  great  pines  were  noddin',  shmilin1,  and 
stretchin'  out  their  mighty  arms,  as  much  as  to  say  : 
'  We  congratulate  you,  Mr.  Corrigan.'  As  I  turned 
away  from  Mrs.  O'Kelly's,  it  seemed  to  me  that  ivery 
one  of  thim  had  drawn  in  its  branches  and  stood  as 
the  hoodlum  does  whin  he  pints  his  thumb  to  his  nose 
and  wriggles  his  fingers." 

Just  then  the  Potosi  whistle  rung  out  on  the  still 
night  again,  the  others  answered  the  call,  and  the 
Club,  at  the  signal,  retired. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

As  the  pipes  were  lighted  next  evening,  Carlin 
said  to  Barney  :  "  Corrigan,  does  the  ghost  of  your 
La  Porte  mirage  haunt  you  as  Wright's  does  him  ? " 

"Not  a  bit  of  it,"  answered  Corrigan,  sharply.  "  It 
hurt  for  a  while,  I  confiss  it,  but  a  year  and  a  half 
after  Maggie  was  married,  I  passed  her  house  one 
avenin'  in  the  gloamin',  and  in  a  voice  which  I  knew 
well,  though  all  the  swateness  had  been  distilled  out 
of  it,  this  missage  came  out  upon  the  air  :  '  Mike,  if 
yez  have  got  the  brat  to  slape,  yez  had  better  lay 
him  down  and  come  out  to  your  tay.  I  should  loike 
to  get  these  supper  things  put  away  sometime  to- 
noight.'  Be  dad,  there  was  no  mirage  about  that,  no 
ravens  about  that,  Wright ;  it  was  the  charge  of  the 
rale  Injun  ! " 

"bpeaking  of  babies,"  said  Miller,  nonchalantly, 
"  do  you  know  that  about  the  most  touching  scene  I 
ever  witnessed  was  over  a  baby?  It  was  in  Downie- 
ville,  California,  way  back  in  '51  or  '52.  You  know  at 
that  time  babies  were  not  very  numerous  in  the 
Sierras.  There  were  plenty  of  men  there  who  had 
not  seen  a  good  woman,  or  a  baby,  for  two  years  or 
more.  You  may  not  believe  it,  but  shut  the  presence 
of  women  and  children  all  out  of  men's  lives,  for 
months  at  a  time,  and  they  contract  a  disease  which 
I  call  '  heart  hunger,'  and  because  of  that  I  suspect 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  51 

that  more  whisky  has  been  drunk  in  this  country, 
and  more  killings  have  grown  out  of  trifling  quarrels, 
than  through  all  other  causes  combined.  Without 
the  eyes  of  women,  good  women,  that  he  respects, 
upon  a  man,  in  a  little  while  the  wild  beast  which  is 
latent  in  all  men's  hearts  begins  to  assert  itself. 
Because  of  this,  men  who  were  born  to  be  good  and 
true  have,  to  kill  the  unrest  within  their  souls,  taken 
to  drink  ;  the  drink  has  led  naturally  up  to  a  quarrel ; 
they  have  got  away  with  their  first  fight ;  the  fools 
around  them  have  praised  them  for  their  'sand;' 
there  has  been  no  look  of  sorrow  and  reproach  in 
any  honest  woman's  eyes  to  bring  them  back  to  their 
senses  ;  and  after  such  a  beginning,  look  for  them  in 
a  year,  and,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  you  will  find 
that  they  are  lost  men. 

"  But  I  commenced  to  tell  you  about  the  Downie- 
ville  baby.  It  had  been  decided  that  we  would  have 
a  Fourth  of  July  celebration.  There  was  no  trouble 
about  getting  it  up.  We  had  a  hundred  men  in 
camp  either  one  of  whom  could  make  as  pretty  a 
speech  as  you  ever  heard ;  everybody  had  plenty  of 
money,  and  there  was  no  trouble  about  fixing  things 
to  have  a  lively  time.  True,  there  was  no  chance  for 
a  triumphal  car,  with  a  Goddess  of  Liberty,  and  a 
young  lady  to  represent  each  State.  There  was  a 
good  reason  for  it.  There  were  not  thirty  young 
ladies  within  two  thousand  miles  of  us. 

"  But  we  had  a  big  live  eagle  to  represent  Sover 
eignty,  and  a  grizzly  bear  as  a  symbol  of  Power, 
which  we  hauled  in  the  procession  ;  we  had  some 
mounted  men,  including  some  Mexican  packers  on 


5  2  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

mule  back;  a  vast  variety  of  flags,  and  many  citizens 
on  foot  in  the  procession.  Of  course  we  had  a  mar 
shal  and  his  staff,  a  president  of  the  day,  an  orator, 
a  poet,  reader  and  chaplain,  and  last,  but  not  least,  a 
brass  band  of  a  few  months'  training.  There  were 
flags  enough  for  a  grand  army,  and  every  anvil  in 
town  was  kept  red-hot  firing  salutes. 

"  After  the  parade,  the  more  sedate  portion  of  the 
people  repaired  to  the  theatre  to  hear  the  Declara 
tion,  poem  and  oration.  The  prayer,  Declaration 
and  poem  had  been  disposed  of,  and  the  president  of 
the  day  was  just  about  to  introduce  the  orator,  when 
a  solitary  baby  but  a  few  months  old,  set  up  a  most 
energetic  yell,  and  continued  it  for  two  or  three  min 
utes,  the  frightened  mother  not  daring  in  that  crowd 
to  supply  the  soothing  the  youngster  was  evidently 
demanding.  To  cause  a  diversion,  I  suppose,  the 
leader  of  the  brass  band  nodded  to  the  others,  and 
they  commenced  to  play  the  '  Star  Spangled  Banner.' 
The  band  had  not  had  very  much  more  practice  than 
the  baby,  but  the  players  were  doing  the  best  they 
could,  when  a  tremendous,  big-whiskered  miner 
sprang  upon  a  back  seat,  and  waving  his  hat  wildly, 
in  a  voice  like  a  thunder-roll,  shouted :  '  Stop  that 
d d  band  and  give  the  baby  a  chance  ! ' 

"  Nothing  like  what  followed  during  the  next  ten 
minutes  had  ever  been  seen  on  this  earth,  since  the 
confusion  of  tongues  transpired  among  the  builders 
of  Babel's  tower.  Men  shouted  and  yelled  like  mad 
men,  strangers  shook  each  other  by  the  hand  and 
screamed  '  hurrah,'  and  in  the  crowd  I  saw  a  dozen 
men  crying  like  children. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  53 

V 

"  For  a  moment  every  heart  was  softened  by  the 
memories  that  baby's  cries  awakened. 

"  The  next  time  you  feel  provoked  because  the 
children  shout  and  shy  rocks  as  they  return  from 
school,  you  may  all  remember  that  could  the  world 
be  carried  on  without  children,  it  would  not  require 
more  than  two  generations  to  transform  men  into 
wild  beasts." 

When  Miller  ceased  speaking,  Ashley  remarked  : 
"  Miller,  you  talk  very  wisely  on  the  subject  of  babies; 
why  have  you  none  of  your  own  ?  " 

Miller  waited  a  moment  before  answering,  and 
then  in  an  absent-minded  manner,  said  :  "  Did  you 
ever  hear  a  gilt-edged  expert  talk  familiarly  about  a 
mine,  as  though  he  knew  all  about  it,  when  he  did 
not  really  know  a  streak  of  ore  from  east  country 
porphyry  ?" 

At  this  the  others  all  laughed,  and  Miller  joined 
in  the  merriment  heartily,  but  nevertheless,  some 
thing  in  the  thoughts  which  the  question  awakened 
had  its  effect  upon  him,  for  he  was  moody  and  pre 
occupied  for  several  minutes.  Meanwhile,  a  spell 
seemed  to  be  upon  the  whole  Club,  except  Brewster, 
who  was  reading  a  pamphlet  'on  "  The  Creation  of 
Mineral  Veins,"  and  Carlin,  who  was  absorbed  in  a 
daily  paper. 

"Who  ever  stops  to  think,"  proceeded  Miller,  speak 
ing  as  much  to  himself  as  to  the  others,  "upon  what 
sorrows  the  foundation  of  the  new  States  are  laid;  how 
many  hearts  are  broken,  how  many  strong  lives  are 
worn  out  in  the  pitiless  struggle  ? 


54  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"Where  are  the  men  who  were  the  Argonauts  of 
the  golden  days  ?  The  most  of  them  are  gone.  Every 
hillside  is  marked  with  their  graves.  They  were  a 
strong,  brave,  generous  race.  They  laid  the  wand  of 
their  power  on  the  barbarism  which  met  them  ;  it 
melted  away  at  their  touch,  they  blazed  the  trails 
and  smoothed  the  paths,  that,  unsoiled,  the  delicate 
sandals  of  civilization  might  draw  near ;  they  rifled 
the  hills  and  ravines  of  their  stores  of  gold,  and 
poured  it  into  the  Nation's  lap,  until  every  sluggish 
artery  of  business  was  set  bounding  ;  they  built  tem 
ples  to  Religion,  to  Learning,  to  Justice  and  to 
Industry  ;  as  they  moved  on,  cities  sprang  up  in  their 
wake  ;  following  them  came  the  enchantments  of 
home  and  the  songs  of  children.  But  for  them,  what 
was  their  portion  ?  It  was  to  work,  to  struggle,  to 
be  misjudged  in  the  land  whence  they  came  ;  to  learn 
to  receive  any  blows  which  outrageous  fortune  might 
hurl  at  them,  without  plaint;  to  watch  while  States 
grew  into  place  around  them,  and  while  the  frown  on 
the  face  of  the  desert  relaxed  into  a  smile  at  their 
toil,  that  toil  was  simply  to  be  accepted  as  a  matter  of 
course  by  the  world,  and  in  the  severe  and  self-satis 
fied  civilization  of  older  States,  only  pity  was  to  be 
felt  for  their  ignorance,  and  only  horror  for  their 
rough  ways.  They  were  to  be  pathfinders,  the  sap 
pers  and  miners  to  storm  the  strongholds  of  barbar 
ism  ;  through  summer's  heat  and  winter's  cold,  to 
continue  their  march,  until  the  final  night  should 
come,  and  then  to  sink  to  a  dreamless  bivouac  under 
the  stars.  What  wonder  if  some  became  over-wear 
ied  ?  if  others  grew  reckless?" 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  55 

He  had  risen  and  was  walking  the  floor,  to  and  fro 
like  a  caged  lion,  as  he  talked.  Going  now  to  the 
kitchen  door,  he  cried  :  "Yap,  bring  some  hot  water, 
some  sugar,  a  nutmeg  and  some  limes,  if  you  have 
them."  ' 

The  heathen  obeyed,  and  Miller  made  seven  big, 
hot  whisky  punches.  Then  lifting  his  glass  he 
offered  this  toast  : 

"  Here's  to  the  Old  Boys;  to  those  who  worked 
and  suffered  and  died,  but  never  complained  !  " 

All  rose  and  drank  in  silence. 


CHAPTER  V. 

At  the  next  meeting,  when  the  pipes  were  all 
lighted,  Ashley,  turning  to  Miller,  said  : 

"  You  took  too  gloomy  a  view  of  things  last  night. 
What  you  said,  or  rather  something  in  your  tone,  has 
haunted  me  ever  since.  But  you  were  wrong.  The 
Argonauts  will  not  be  forgotten. 

"  The  names  of  the  Kings  who  compelled  the 
building  of  the  pyramids  are  mostly  matters  of  con 
jecture  now,  but  no  man  who  ever  gazed  upon  those 
piles  of  stone  that  have  borne  unscarred  the  desert 
storms  that  have  been  breaking  upon  and  around 
them  through  the  centuries,  has  failed  to  think  of  the 
tremendous  energy  of  the  race  that  reared  those  mon 
uments  above  the  sand  ;  reared  them  so  that  the 
abrasion  of  the  ages  avails  not  against  them. 

"  One  loves  to  dream  of  how  that  race  must  have 
looked,  there  under  that  sky,  while  yet  the  world  was 
young,  and  while  the  energy  and  beauty  of  youth 
was  upon  it.  There  was  no  steam  power  to  assist,  no 
power  drills,  there  were  only  rude,  untempered  tools. 
The  plain  wedge,  and  the  lever  in  its  more  effective 
form,  were  about  all  that  was  known  of  mechanics  ; 
still  from  the  quarries  of  Syene,  far  up  the  Nile,  those 
blocks  were  wrested,  hewed,  transported,  lifted  up 
and  laid  in  place,  and  with  such  mathematical  precis 
ion  was  the  work  performed,  that  the  ebb  and  flow 

56 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLU1J.  57 

of  the  centuries  have  no  effect  upon  the  work.  While 
this  material  work  was  going  on,  in  the  same  realm 
wise  men  were  putting  into  a  language  the  alphabet 
of  the  sky,  tracing  out  the  procession  of  the  stars  and 
solving  the  mystery  of  the  seasons.  When  we  think 
of  Ancient  Egypt,  it  is  not  of  her  Kings,  but  of  what 
was  wrought  out  there  by  brain  and  hand. 

"  To-day  I  was  at  work  on  the  twenty-four  hundred- 
foot  level  of  the  mine.  Around  me  power  drills  were 
working,  cars  were  rattling,  cages  were  running ; 
three  hundred  men  were  stoping,  timbering  and  roll 
ing  cars  to  and  from  the  chutes  and  ore-breasts,  and 
in  the  spectral  light  I  thought  it  was  a  scene  for  a 
painter.  But  while  so  thinking,  for  some  reason, 
there  came  to  me  the  thought  of  the  one  hundred 
times  three  hundred  men,  who,  for  a  generation, 
worked  on  a  single  pyramid  ;  worked  without  pay 
days,  without  so  much  as  a  kind  word,  and  on  poorer 
fare  than  one  gets  at  a  fourth-rate  miners'  boarding 
house  ;  and  as  I  reflected  over  that,  our  little  work 
here  seemed  small  indeed. 

"  So,  in  estimating  Greece,  we  do  not  pick  out  a 
few  men  or  women  to  remember,  but  we  think  of  the 
race  that  made  Thermopylae  and  Marathon  possibili 
ties,  of  the  men  who  followed  Xenophon,  of  the 
women  who  closed  their  hearts  and  left  their  de 
formed  offspring  to  perish  in  the  woods  that  Greece 
should  rear  no  woman  who  could  not  bear  soldiers, 
no  man  who  could  not  bear  arms ;  of  the  race 
so  finely  strung  that  poetry  was  born  of  it ;  that 
sculpture  and  eloquence  were  so  perfected  in,  that 
to  copy  is  impossible ;  that  was  so  susceptible  to 


58  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

beauty  that  it  turned  justice  aside,  and  yet  that  was 
so  valiant  that  it  mastered  the  world. 

"  So  of  Rome  !  It  is  not  because  the  great  Julius 
lived  that  we  call  it  'The  Imperial  Nation.'  We 
stand  in  awe  of  it  still,  but  not  because  out  of  its  mil 
lions  a  few  superb  figures  shine.  Rather,  we  think 
of  the  valor  that  from  a  little  nucleus  widened  until 
it  subdued  the  world  ;  of  the  ten  thousand  fields  on 
which  Romans  fought  and  conquered.  We  think  how 
they  marshaled  their  armies,  and  taught  the  nations 
how  to  lay  out  camps  ;  how  they  built  roads  and  aque 
ducts,  that  their  land  might  be  defended  and  the  Im 
perial  City  sustained  ;  how  they  carved  out  an  archi 
tecture  of  their  own  which  the  world  still  clings  to  in 
its  most  stately  edifices ;  how,  from  barbarism,  they 
progressed  until  they  framed  a  code  which  is  still 
respected  ;  how,  in  literature  and  the  arts,  they  ex 
celled,  and  how,  for  a  thousand  years,  they  were  the 
concernment  of  the  world. 

"  So  of  England.  Which  merits  the  greater  glory, 
King  John  or  the  stern,  half-barbarous  barons  who, 
with  an  instinct  generations  in  advance  of  their  age, 
circled  around  their  sullen  King  and  compelled  him 
to  give  to  them  'the  great  charter?'  Through  the 
thousand  years  that  have  succeeded  that  act,  how 
many  individual  names  can  we  rescue  from  the  hosts 
that  on  that  little  isle  have  lived  and  died?  Not 
many.  But  the  grand  career  of  the  nation  is  in  the 
mind  forever.  How,  through  struggle  after  struggle, 
the  advance  has  been  made ;  struggles  that,  though 
full  of  errors,  knew  no  faltering  or  despair,  until  at 
last,  for  the  world,  she  became  the  center  and  the 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  59 

bulwark  of  civilization  ;  until  in  material  strength 
she  had  no  equal ;  until  the  sheen  of  her  sails  gave 
light  to  all  the  seas,  and  under  her  flag  signal  sta 
tions-were  upreared  the  world  around.  We  do  not 
remember  many  men,  but  there  is  ever  in  the  mind 
the  thought  of  English  valor  and  persistence,  and  the 
clear  judgment  which  directed  the  valor  by  land  and 
sea. 

"  But  we  need  not  go  abroad ;  our  own  land  has 
examples  enough.  Not  many  can  call  over  the 
names  of  those  who  came  in  the  '  Mayflower,'  or  those 
who  made  up  the  colonies  along  the  Atlantic  coast. 
But  the  spectacle  of  the  '  Mayflower  '  band,  on  their 
arrival,  kneeling  in  the  snow  and  singing  a  triumphal 
song,  is  a  picture  the  tints  of  which  will  deepen 
in  splendor  with  the  ages.  We  need  not  call  over 
the  names  of  our  statesmen  and  warriors  ;  they  give 
but  a  slight  impression  of  our  race.  But  when  we 
think  how,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi,  the 
woods  were  made  to  give  place  to  gardens,  fruitful 
fields  and  smiling  homes  ;  when  we  think  that  the 
majority  of  those  families  had  each  of  them  less  to 
start  with  than  any  .one  of  us  gets  for  a  month's  labor, 
and  yet  how  they  subdued  the  land,  pressed  back  the 
savage,  reared  and  educated  and  created  a  literature 
for  their  children,  until  over  all  the  vast  expanse 
there  was  peace,  prosperity,  enlightenment  and  joy, 
then  it  is  that  we  begin  to  grow  proud. 

"  If  the  Argonauts  of  the  Golden  Coast  can  show 
that  they  have  wrought  as  well,  they  will  not  be 
forgotten.  Those  who  succeed  them  will  know  that 
they  were  preceded  by  a  race  that  was  strong  and 


6O  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

brave  and  true,  and  their  memory  in  the  West  will 
be  embalmed  with  the  memory  of  those  in  the  East 
who,  starting  under  the  spray  that  is  tossed  from  the 
white  surf  of  the  eastern  sea,  with  no  capital  but 
pluck,  hewed  out  and  embellished  the  Republic. 

"  Of  course,  there  have  been  sorrows ;  of  course, 
hearts  have  broken  ;  but  there  has  been  much  of  tri 
umph  also.  It  is  something  to  have  a  home  in  this 
Far  West ;  there  is  something  in  the  hills,  the  trees, 
the  free  air  and  action  of  this  region  which  brings  to 
men  thoughts  that  they  would  never  have  had  in 
other  lands.  It  is  not  bad  sometimes  for  men  to 
leave  their  books  and  turn  to  Nature  for  instruction. 
Here  of  all  the  world  some  of  the  brightest  pages  of 
Nature's  book  are  spread  open  for  the  reade/.  And 
many  a  man  that  others  pity  because  they  think 
his  heart  must  be  heavy,  does  not  ask  that  pity ;  does 
not  feel  its  need.  Those  hearts  have  gathered  to 
themselves  delights,  which,  if  not,  perhaps,  of  the 
highest  order,  still  are  very  sweet.  Let  me  give  an 
instance. 

"  Last  year  I  went  to  look  at  a  mine  down  in 
Tuolumne  county,  California.  I  was  the  guest  of  a 
miner  who  had  lived  in  the  same  cabin  for  more  than 
twenty  years.  He  was  his  own  cook  and  house 
keeper  and  seldom  had  any  company  except  his 
books — a  fine  collection — his  daily  papers,  his  gun 
and  some  domestic  animals.  He  had  a  little  orchard 
and  garden.  Around  his  garden  tame  rabbits  played 
with  his  dogs.  In  explanation,  he  said:  'They  were 
all  babies  at  the  same  time  and  have  grown  up  to 
gether.'  While  walking  with  him  in  his  garden,  he 


THE   COMSTOCK   CLUB.  6 1 

asked  me  if  I  had  ever  seen  a  mountain  quail  on  her 
nest.  At  the  same  moment  he  parted  the  limbs  of  a 
shrub,  and  there,  within  six  inches  of  his  hand,  sat  a 
bird,  her  bright  eyes  looking  up  in  perfect  confidence 
into  his. 

"The  place  was  in  the  high  foothills;  there  was 
a  level  space  in  front  of  his  cabin.  From  that  point 
the  hills,  in  steadily  increasing  waves,  swelled  into 
the  great  ridges  of  the  higher  Sierras,  and  far  away 
to  the  east  the  blue  crest  of  Mount  Bodie  stood  out 
clear  against  the  sky. 

"  It  was  not  strange  to  me  that  he  loved  the  place. 
When  within  doors  he  talked  upon  every  subject  with 
a  peculiar  terse  shrewdness  all  his  own.  He  had  had 
many  bouts  with  the  world  ;  he  knew  men  thoroughly; 
he  had  in  a  measure  withdrawn  himself  from  them, 
and  found  a  serener  comfort  in  his  pets,  his  hills  and 
trees.  He  had  acquired  that  faculty  which  men  often 
do  when  a  great  deal  alone  in  the  mountains.  He 
did  not  reason  his  way  up  through  the  proof  of  a 
proposition,  but  with  a  clear  sagacity  reached  the 
truth  at  a  bound  and  left  the  reasoning  for  others. 
He  had  his  theory  of  how  fissures  were  originally 
formed  and  filled  ;  he  had  his  opinion  of  ancient  and 
modern  authors  ;  he  understood  politics  well,  and 
gave  brief  and  true  reasons  for  his  belief.  In  short, 
he  was  a  self-appointed  embassador  to  the  court  of 
the  hills,  to  represent  all  the  world. 

"  My  admiration  for  him  increased  the  longer  I 
remained  with  him,  for  he  knew  much  of  interest  to 
me  ;  but  he  spoke  always  in  a  tone  as  though  he  was 
revealing  only  a  little  of  what  he  knew.  I  suspect 


62  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

that  was  the  real  state  of  the  case.  There  was  a 
charm,  too,  about  his  manner.  Though  I  knew  that 
he  had  suffered  many  disappointments,  if  not  sorrows, 
there  was  no  bitterness.  Whatever  he  did  or  said 
was  with  a  gentle  grace  of  his  own.  He  was  free, 
alike,  from  either  harshness,  egotism  or  diffidence. 
Something  of  the  great  calm  of  the  hills  around  him 
had  entered  into  his  soul. 

"  But  the  greatest  surprise  was  reserved  for  me  to 
the  last.  I  had  to  get  up  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  walk  over  a  dim  trail  two  or  three  miles 
to  a  little  village,  in  order  to  take  the  stage  which 
passed  the  village  at  five  o'clock.  When  I  was  ready, 
my  friend  said  :  '  There  are  so  many  trails  through 
the  hills  you  might  take  the  wrong  one  in  the  uncer 
tain  light.  I  will  pilot  you.' 

"  When  we  set  out  it  was  yet  dark.  There  was  an 
absolute  hush  upon  the  world.  Up  through  the 
branches  of  the  great  pines,  God's  lanterns  were 
swinging  as  though  but  just  trimmed  and  lighted,  and 
under  the  august  roof  where  they  swung,  they  shone 
with  rays  more  pure  than  vestal  lamps.  But  at 
length  up  the  east  some  shafts  of  light  were  shot, 
and  soon  the  miracle  of  the  dawn  began  to  unfold.  It 
was  a  June  morning  and  entirely  cloudless.  Soon 
the  warm  rays  of  approaching  day  began  to  bend 
over  the  hills  from  the  east ;  the  foliage  which  had 
been  black  began  to  grow  green  ;  the  scarlet  of  the 
hills  shone  out  where  the  light  touched  it  ;  the  senti- 

o 

nel  fires  above  began  to  grow  dim.      A  little  laterthe 
hills  began  to  grow  resonant  with  the  manifold  voices 


THE    COM  STOCK    CLUB.  63 

which  they  held,  and  which  commenced  to  awaken 
and  hail  the  approaching  day. 

"  Then  my  sententious  companion,  as  though  kin 
dled  by  the  same  influences,  opened  his  lips.  He 
seemed  to  have  forgotten  that  I  was  near ;  he  was  an 
swering  the  greeting  of  his  friends  in  the  woods.  I 
can  only  give  the  faintest  idea  of  what  he  said,  and  I 
grieve  over  it,  for  it  was  sweeter  than  music.  His 
words  ran  something  like  this  : 

"  '  Chirp,  chirp  ;  O,  my  martin  (the  swallow's  grand 
mother)  ;  as  usual  you  are  up  first,  to  say  good  morn 
ing,  the  first  to  hail  the  beautiful  coming  day.  Ah, 
there  you  are,  whistling,  my  lovely  quail,  you  charm 
ing  cockaded  glory  ;  and  now,  my  mocking  bird,  you 
brown  splendor  with  a  flat  nose,  where  do  you  get  all 
your  voices  ?  Heigh-ho  !  you  are  up,  Mr.  Jacob  (wood 
pecker),  up  to  see  if  Mrs.  Jacob  is  gathering  acorns  this 
morning,  you  old  miser  of  the  woods  with  your  black 
and  white  clothes  and  your  thrift  worse  than  a  China 
man's  ;  and  now,  my  mourning  dove  has  commenced 
its  daily  drone,  growling  because  breakfast  is  not 
ready,  I  suppose.  At  last  you  have  opened  your  eyes, 
Mrs.  Lark  ;  a  nice  bird  you  are  to  claim  to  be  an  early 
riser,  but  you  have  a  cheery  voice,  nevertheless.  Now, 
my  wren  and  my  oriole,  you  are  making  some  genu 
ine  music,  if  both  of  you  together  are  not  as  big  as 
one  note  of  an  organ,  Hist !  that  was  a  curlew's  cry 
from  away  down  on  the  river's  bank,  and  now  you  are 
all  awake  and  singing,  you  noisy  chatterers,  as  though 
your  hearts  would  burst  for  joy.  Finally,  old  night- 
raiding  owl,  you  are  saying  "good  night"  this  morn 
ing,  you  old  burglar  of  the  woods.' 


64  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  Meanwhile  the  banners  of  the  dawn  had  grown 
more  and  more  bright  in  the  sky,  and  as  he  ceased 
speaking,  the  full  disc  of  the  sun,  lighted  with  omnip 
otent  fires,  shown  full  above  the  hills,  with  a  splendor 
too  severe  for  human  eyes. 

"  I  had  not  interrupted  my  friend  during  the  half 
hour  that  he,  striding  before  me  on  the  trail,  had  been 
talking.  I  half  suspected  that  he  had  forgotten  I  was 
near,  absorbed  as  he  was  in  greeting  his  warblers. 
Of  course  I  have  not  named  the  birds  in  their  order ; 
nor  have  I  named  half  that  he  greeted ;  I  might  as 
well  try  to  repeat  to  you  all  the  scientific  terms  in  one 
of  Professor  Stewart's  earthquake  lectures.  But  all 
that  day,  and  for  many  days  afterwards,  his  words 
were  ringing  in  my  ears  ;  and  often  have  I  wondered 
if,  with  his  thoughts  and  his  surroundings,  he  was  not 
with  more  reason  and  more  peace,  passing  down  life's 
trail,  than  as  though  he  were  out  in  the  pitiless  world 
of  men,  striving  for  wealth  and  for  power.  Never 
since  have  I  seen  a  lonely  man  in  town,  with  shy  face 
which  revealed  that  he  was  unused  to  the  crowds  of 
the  city,  purchasing  some  few  little  necessaries,  and, 
apparently,  hurrying  to  get  away,  that  I  have  not  said 
to  myself :  '  He  has  a  cabin  somewhere  with  books 
and  dogs,  and  with  a  garden  outside,  and  he  knows 
every  bird  in  the  forest  by  its  morning  call.'" 

While  Ashley  was  talking,  he  had  unconsciously 
fixed  his  eyes  upon  the  light  which  shone  from  a 
reflector,  up  through  the  window  from  the  hoisting 
works  down  the  hill,  and  seemed  to  forget  the  pres 
ence  of  anyone  near. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  65 

As  he  ceased  and  looked  around  he  discovered  that 
all  his  auditors  had  fallen  asleep  in  their  chairs, 
except  Yap  Sing,  who  had  stolen  into  the  room.  He 
looked  up  knowingly,  smiled  and  said  : 

"  You  talkee  belly  nice.  Me  heap  sabbee,  clail, 
chickee,  duckee,  goosee.  Me  cookee  'em  flirst  late, 
you  bettee." 

"  You  be "  said  Ashley,  and  went  to  bed.  The 

rest,  awakened  by  the  whistles,  started  up  in  surprise 
and  Corrigan  said  :  "  I  wur  dramin1  of  agles  and  pa- 
cocks  and  swans  and  hummin'  birds.  I  must  have 
been  afther  atin  too  much  supper." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  next  evening  as  the  club  gathered  around  the 
hearth,  .Brewster,  who,  next  to  Harding,  was  the  most 
reticent  member  of  the  party,  said  apologetically  to 
Ashley  : 

"  It  was  shabby  of  us  not  to  give  more  heed  to 
your  story  last  night,  but  the  truth  with  me  was,  I 
was  very  tired.  We  were  cutting  out  a  station  on  the 
2,300  level  of  the  mine,  yesterday;  the  work  was  hard, 
the  ventilation  bad,  and  it  was  hot  and  prostrating 
labor.  But,  I  heard  most  of  your  story,  nevertheless. 
While  I  know  nothing  of  your  miner  who  lives  with 
his  books  and  birds  and  dogs  and  flowers,  and  hence 
know  nothing  of  what  storms  he  has  breasted  and 
what  heart-aches  he  has  borne — therefore,  cannot,  in 
my  own  mind,  fix  his  place — still,  on  general  princi 
ples,  it  is  man's  duty  never  to  accept  any  rebuff  of 
unkind  fortune  as  a  reason  for  ceasing  to  try  ;  but 
rather  he  should  struggle  on  and  do  the  best  he  can, 
if  need  be  dying  with  the  harness  on  his  back.  More 
over,  as  a  rule,  it  is  the  easier  way.  It  is  in  harmony 
with  Nature's  first  great  law,  and  man  seldom  errs 

o 

when  he  follows  the  laws  that  were  framed  before  the 
world's  foundations  were  laid.  When  man  was  given 
his  two  feet  to  stand  upon,  his  arms  to  cleave  out  for 
himself  a  path  and  a  career,  and  his  brain  to  be  his 
guide  ;  then  with  the  rich  earth  for  a  field,  in  the 

C6 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  67 

opinion  of  the  Infinite  Goodness,  he  had  all  the  capi 
tal  that  he  required.  The  opportunities  of  this  land, 
especially  this  free  West,  with  a  capacity  to  plan  and 
work,  are  enough  for  any  man.  The  trouble  is,  men 
falter  too  soon.  On  that  last  night  of  anxiety,  before 
the  New  World  rose  out  of  the  sea  to  greet  the  eyes 
of  Columbus,  when  his  sullen  and  fear-stricken  crews 
were  on  the  point  of  mutiny,  suddenly  there  came  to 
the  senses  of  the  great  commander  the  perfume  of 
earthly  flowers.  Soon  after  the  veil  of  the  ocean  was 
rent  asunder,  and  upon  his  thrilled  eyes  there  burst 
a  light.  Columbus  was  not  the  only  man  who  ever 
discovered  a  new  world.  They  are  being  found  daily. 
I  meet  men  often  on  the  street  and  know  by  some 
thing  in  their  faces  that,  at  that  very  moment,  the 
perfume  of  the  flowers  of  some  glory  to  come  is  upon 
them,  and  that  the  first  rays  of  the  dawn  of  a  divine 
light  are  commencing  to  fill  their  eyes  with  splendor. 

"When  the  idea  of  the  Alexandrian,  after  having 
been  transmitted  from  mortal  to  mortal,  for  more 
than  fifty  generations,  at  last  materialized,  and  the 
care-worn  man  who  was  watching  heard  the  first  sob 
of  artificial  life  come  from  a  steam  engine,  to  him 
was  the  perfume  and  the  light. 

"  When,  after  generations  of  turmoil  and  war,  in 
the  deadly  double  struggle  to  assimilate  various  peo 
ples,  and  at  the  same  time  out  of  barbarism  to  con 
struct  a  stable  and  enlightened  government ;  when  the 
stern  old  English  barons  caught  the  right  inspiration, 
and  gathering  around  their  sovereign  asked  him  to 
recognize  the  rights  of  the  men  on  whose  valor  his 


68  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

throne  leaned  for  safety  and  to  sign  Magna  Charta, 
to  them  came  the  perfume  and  the  light. 

"  When  the  desire  of  the  colonies,  voiceless  before, 
at  length  through  the  pen  of  Jefferson  found  expres 
sion  in  the  words  :  '  We  hold  these  truths  to  be 
self-evident — that  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that 
they  are  endowed  by  their  creator  with  certain  in 
alienable  rights  ;'  then  to  a  whole  nation,  yes  to  the 
world,  came  the  perfume  and  the  light. 

"  In  public  life  these  emotions  are  marked,  and  the 
world  applauds.  In  humble  life  they  are  generally 
unnoticed,  but  they  are  frequent,  and  the  enchantment 
of  the  perfume  becomes  like  incense,  and  it  is  a  softer 
light  that  dawns.  When  the  poor  man,  who  lays  aside 
daily  but  a  pittance  from  his  earnings,  finds  at  last, 
after  months  and  years,  that  the  sum  has  increased  un 
til  it  is  certain  that  he  can  build  a  little  home  for  his 
wife — a  home  which  is  to  be  all  his  own — and  that  he 
can  educate  his  children ,  then  the  perfume  and 
lights  of  a  new  world  entrance  him,  and  in  his  sphere 
he  is  as  great  as  was  the  dark-eyed  Italian. 

"  In  the  Bible  we  read  that  all  the  prophets  were 
given  to  fasting  and  to  labor,  in  order  to  bring  the 
body  under  subjection  to  the  soul.  This  is  but  typical 
of  what  a  great  soul  must  submit  to,  if  it  would  catch 
the  perfume  and  light.  The  world's  wealth  rests 
on  labor.  Whether  a  man  tills  a  garden  or  writes  a 
book,  the  harvest  will  be  worth  gathering  just  in  pro 
portion  to  the  soil,  and  to  the  energy  and  intelligence 
of  the  work  performed.  Columbus  could  never  have 
discovered  a  new  world  by  standing  on  the  seashore 
and  straining  his  eyes  to  the  West.  The  tempests  had 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  69 

to  be  met ;  the  raging  seas  outridden  ;  the  mutinous 
crew  controlled.  There  are  tempests,  waves  and 
mutineers  in  every  man's  path,  and  it  is  only  over 
and  beyond  them  that  there  come  the  perfume  and 
the  light.  The  lesson  taught  at  Eden's  gate  is  the  one 
that  must  still  be  learned.  All  that  man  can  gain  is 
by  labor,  and  the  sword  that  guards  the  gate  flames 
just  as  fiercely  as  of  old. 

"  To  the  Argonauts  was  given  a  duty.  They  were 
appointed  to  redeem  a  wild  and  create  a  sovereign 
State.  I  believe  they  were  a  brave,  true  race.  The 
proof  is  that  without  the  restraint  of  pure  women 
and  without  law,  they  enforced  order.  Their  energy 
also  was  something  tremendous.  After  building  up 
California,  they,  in  great  part,  made  a  nucleus  for 
civilization  to  gather  to  in  each  of  half  a  dozen  neigh 
boring  territories.  But  they  had  advantages  which 
the  men  who  settled  the  Eastern  States — the  region  be 
yond  the  Mississippi  river,  I  mean — never  possessed. 
They  had  better  food  to  eat,  a  better  climate  to  live 
in.  If  they  did  not  have  capital,  they  knew  a  living, 
at  least,  could  be  had  from  the  nearest  gravel  bank  or 
ravine,  and  if  they  lacked  the  encircling  love  of  wife 
and  children,  they  were  spared  the  sorrow  of  seeing 
dear  women  wear  out  lives  of  hardship  and  poverty, 
as  has  been  seen  on  all  other  frontiers  in  America. 

"If  some  fell  by  the  wayside,  it  was  natural,  for 
human  nature  is  weak  and  Death  is  everywhere  ;  if 
some  in  the  pitiless  struggle  failed,  they  had  no  right 
to  cease  to  try,  for  when  men  do  that  the  hope  that 
to  them  will  come  the  perfume  or  that  upon  their 
eyes  will  ever  shine  the  light,  is  forever  closed." 


70  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  All  that  is  good,"  said  Carlin,  "  but  the  rule  does 
not  always  hold  true.  There  is  sometimes  a  limit  to 
man's  capacity  to  suffer,  and  his  heart  breaks  ;  and 
still  after  that  his  face  gives  no  sign,  and  there  is  no 
abatement  of  his  energies.  In  such  cases,  however, 
men  generally  lose  the  capacity  to  reason  calmly  and 
they  begin  to  chase  impossibilities.  I  saw  a  case 
yesterday.  I  met  a  man  mounted  on  a  cheap  mus 
tang,  and  leading  another  on  which  was  packed  a  lit 
tle  coarse  food,  a  pick,  shovel,  pan,  coffee-pot  and 
frying-pan.  As  he  moved  slowly  up  C  street,  a  friend 
— himself  an  Argonaut — clutched  me  by  the  arm  with 
one  hand,  and  with  the  other  pointing  to  the  man  on 
horseback,  asked  me  if  I  knew  him.  Replying  that  I 
did  not,  he  said  :  '  Why  that  is  "  Prospecting  Joe  ;  "  I 
thought  everybody  knew  him.'  I  told  him  I  had  never 
heard  of  him,  when  he  related  his  story,  almost  word 
for  word,  as  follows  : 

"He  came  to  the  Far  West  from  some  Eastern 
State  in  the  old,  old  days.  He  was  not  then  more 
than  twenty-three  or  twenty-four  years  old.  Physic 
ally,  he  was  a  splendid  specimen  of  a  man,  I  am  told. 
He  was,  moreover,  genial  and  generous,  and  drew 
friends  around  him  wherever  he  went.  He  secured  a 
claim  in  the  hills  above  Placerville.  One  who  knew 
him  at  that  time  told  me  that,  calling  at  his  cabin 
one  night,  he  surprised  him  poring  over  a  letter  writ 
ten  in  a  fair  hand,  while  beside  him  on  his  rude  table 
lay  the  picture  of  a  beautiful  girl.  His  heart  must 
have  been  warmed  at  the  time,  for,  picking  up  the  pic 
ture  and  handing  it  to  my  friend,  said  :  '  Look  at 
her  !  She  is  my  Nora,  my  Nora.  She,  beautiful  as 


THE    CUMSTOCK    CLUB.  71 

she  is,  would  in  her  divinity  have  bent  and  married  a 
coarse  mould  of  clay  like  myself,  and  poor,  too,  as  I 
was;  but  her  father  said  :  "  Not  yet,  Joe.  Go  out 
into  the  world,  make  a  struggle  for  two  years,  then 
come  back,  and  if  by  that  time  you  have  established 
that  you  are  man  enough  to  be  a  husband  to  a  true 
woman,  and  you  and  Nora  still  hold  to  the  thought 
that  is  in  your  hearts  now,  I  will  help  you  all  I  can. 
And,  mind  you,  I  don't  expect  you  to  make  a  fortune 
in  two  years ;  I  only  want  you  to  show  that  the  man 
hood  which  I  think  you  have  within  you  is  true." 
That  was  square  and  sensible  talk,  and  it  was  not 
unkind.  So  I  came  away.'  Then  he  took  the  pic 
ture  and  looked  fondly  at  it  for  a  long  time,  and  said: 
4  I  see  the  delicious  girl  as  she  looked  on  that  sum 
mer's  day,  when  she  waved  her  last  good-bye.  I 
shall  see  her  all  my  life,  if  I  live  a  thousand  years/ 

44  Well,  Joe  worked  on  week  days  ;  on  Sundays,  as 
miners  did  in  those  days,  he  went  to  camp  to  get  his 
mail  and  supplies.  His  claim  paid  him  only  fairly 
well,  but  he  was  saving  some  money.  I  n  eight  months 
he  had  been  able  to  deposit  twelve  hundred  dollars  in 
the  local  bank.  One  Sunday  he  did  not  receive  the 
expected  letter  from  his  Nora,  and  during  the  next 
kour  or  two  he  drank  two  or  three  times  with  friends. 
He  was  about  to  leave  for  home,  when  three  men 
whom  he  slightly  knew,  and  who  had  all  been  drinking 
too  much,  met  him  and  importuned  him  to  drink  with 
them.  He  declined  with  thanks,  when  one  of  the 
three  caught  him  by  the  arm  and  said  he  must  drink. 

"At  any  other  time  he  would  have  extricated  him 
self  without  trouble  and  gone  on  his  way.  But  on 


72  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

that  day  he  was  not  in  a  good  humor,  so  he  shook  the 
man  off  roughly  and  curtly  told  him  to  go  about  his 
own  affairs. 

"  The  others  were  just  sufficiently  sprung  with 
liquor  to  take  offense  at  this,  and  the  result  was  a 
terrific  street  fight.  Joe  was  badly  bruised,  but  he 
whipped  all  three  of  the  others.  Then  he  was  arrested 
and  ordered  to  appear  next  morning  to  answer  a 
charge  of  fighting.  He  was  of  course  cleared  without 
difficulty,  but  it  took  one-fourth  of  his  deposit  to  pay 
his  lawyer.  Then  the  miners  gathered  around  him 
and  called  him  a  hero  and  he  went  on  his  first 
spree. 

"  Next  morning  when  he  awoke  and  thought  of  as 
much  as  he  could  remember  of  the  previous  day's 
events,  he  was  thoroughly  ashamed.  As  he  went 
down  to  the  office  of  the  hotel,  in  response  to  an 
inquiry  as  to  how  he  felt  he  answered  :  '  Full  of  re 
pentance  and  beer.'  A  friend  showed  him  the  morning 
paper  with  a  full  account  of  the  Sunday  fight  and  his 
trial  and  acquittal.  This  was  embellished  with 
taking  head-lines,  as  is  the  custom  with  reporters.  It 
cut  him  to  the  heart.  He  knew  that  if  the  news 
reached  his  old  home  of  his  being  in  a  street  fight  on 
Sunday,  all  his  hopes  would  be  ended.  His  first 
thought  was  to  draw  his  money  and  take  the  first 
steamer  for  Panama  and  New  York.  He  went  to 
the  bank  and  asked  how  his  account  stood,  for  he 
remembered  to  have  drawn  something  the  previous 
day.  He  was  answered  that  there  was  still  to  his 
credit  $150.  The  steamer  fare  was  $275.  Utterly 
crushed,  he  returned  to  his  claim.  The  fear  that 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  73 

the  news  of  his  disgrace  would  reach  home  haunted 
him  perpetually  and  made  him  afraid  to  write.  He 
continued  to  work  but  not  with  the  old  hope. 

"  After  some  weeks,  a  rumor  came  that  rich  ground 
had  been  '  struck '  away  to  the  north,  somewhere  in 
Siskiyou  county.  He  drew  what  money  he  had, 
bought  a  couple  of  ponies,  one  to  ride  and  one  to 
pack,  and  started  for  the  new  field.  Before  starting, 
he  confided  to  a  friend  that  the  previous  night  he  had 
dreamed  of  a  mountain  the  crest  of  which  glittered 
all  over  with  gold,  and  he  was  going  to  find  it. 

"  The  friend  told  him  it  was  but  a  painted  devil  of 
the  brain,  the  child  of  a  distempered  imagination,  but 
he  merely  shook  his  head  and  went  away. 

"  He  has  pursued  that  dream  ever  since.  His  eyes 
have  been  ever  strained  to  catch  the  reflection  from 
those  shining  heights.  When  he  began  the  search, 
his  early  home  and  the  loving  arms  which  were  there 
stretched  out  to  him,  began  to  recede  in  the  distance. 
In  a  few  years  they  disappeared  altogether.  Then 
his  hopes  one  by  one  deserted  him,  until  all  had  fled 
except  the  one  false  one  which  was,  and  still  is,  driv 
ing  him  on.  Youth  died  and  was  buried  by  the  trail, 
but  so  absorbed  was  he  that  he  hardly  grieved.  As 
Time  served  notice  after  notice  upon  him  ;  as  his  hair 
blanched,  his  form  bent  and  the  old  sprightliness 
went  out  of  his  limbs,  he  retired  more  and  more  from 
the  haunts  of  men  ;  more  and  more  he  drew  the  man 
tle  of  the  mountains  around  him.  But  his  eyes,  now 
bright  with  an  unnatural  sheen,  were  still  strained 
upon  the  shining  height.  There  were  but  a  few 
intervening  hills  and  some  forests  that  obstructed  his 


74  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

view.  A  little  further  on  and  the  goal  would  be 
reached.  Last  night  he  was  in  his  cups  and  he  told 
my  friend  that  this  time  he  would  '  strike  it  sure,' 
that  the  old  man  would  make  his  showing  yet,  that 
he  would  yet  go  back  to  the  old  home  and  be  a  Prov 
idence  to  those  he  loved  when  a  boy. 

"  Poor  wretch  !  There  is  an  open  grave  stretched 
directly  across  his  trail.  On  this  journey  or  some 
other  soon,  he  will,  while  his  eyes  are  still  straining 
toward  his  heights  of  gold,  drop  into  that  grave  and 
disappear  forever. 

"  Some  morning  as  he  awakens,  amid  the  hills  or 
out  upon  the  desert,  there  will  be  such  a  weariness 
upon  him  that  he  will  say, '  I  will  sleep  a  little  longer,' 
and  from  that  sleep  he  will  never  waken. 

"  Heaven  grant  that  his  vision  will  then  become  a 
reality,  and  that  he  may  mount  the  shining  heights  at 
last. 

"  Of  course,  it  is  easy  to  say  that  he  was  originally 
weak,  but  that  is  no  argument,  for  human  nature  is 
prone  to  be  weak.  His  was  of  a  high-strung,  sensi 
tive,  generous  nature.  He  never  sought  gold  for  the 
joy  it  would  give  him, but  for  the  happiness  he  dreamed 
it  would  give  to  those  he  loved.  His  Nora  was  a 
queen  in  his  eyes,  and  he  wanted  to  give  her,  every 
day,  the  surroundings  of  a  queen.  He  had  made  one 
mistake  and  never  rallied  from  it.  Had  the  letter 
come  that  fatal  Sunday  from  Nora,  as  he  was  expect 
ing  it,  or  had  he  left  for  home  half  an  hour  earlier,  or 
had  he  been  of  coarser  clay,  that  day's  performance 
would  have  been  avoided,  or  would  have  been 
passed  as  an  incident  not  to  be  repeated,  but  not  to 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  75 

be  seriously  minded.  But  he  was  of  different  mould, 
and  then  that  was  a  blow  from  Fate.  It  is  easy 
enough  to  say  that  there  is  nothing  in  that  thing 
called  luck.  Such  talk  will  not  do  here  on  the  Corn- 
stock.  There  is  no  luck  when  a  money-lender 
charges  five  dollars  for  the  use  of  a  hundred  for  a 
month  and  exacts  good  security.  He  gets  his  one 
hundred  and  five  dollars,  and  that  is  business. 

"  But  in  this  lead  where  ore  bodies  lie  like  melons 
on  a  vine,  when  ore  is  reported  in  the  Belcher  and 
in  the  Savage,  when  Brown  buys  stock  in  the  Belcher 
and  Rogers  buys  in  the  Savage  ;  when  the  streak  of 
ore  in  the  Belcher  runs  into  a  bonanza  and  Brown 
wakes  up  rich  some  morning,  and  when  the  streak  of 
ore  in  the  Savage  runs  into  a  Niagara  of  hot  water 
which  floods  the  mine  and  Rogers'  stock  is  sold  out 
to  meet  an  assessment,  it  will  not  do  to  call  Brown  a 
shrewd  fellow  and  Rogers  an  idiot. 

"  Still,  I  do  not  object  to  the  theory  that  a  man 
should  always  keep  trying,  even  if  the  luck  is  against 
him,  because  luck  may  change  some  time,  and  if  it 
does  not,  he  sleeps  better  when  he  knows  that  with 
the  lights  before  him  he  has  done,  the  best  he  could. 
A  man  can  stand  almost  anything  when  his  soul  does 
not  reproach  him  as  he  tries  to  go  to  sleep. 

"  Then,  too,  man  is  notoriously  a  lazy  animal,  and 
unless  he  has  the  nerve  to  spur  himself  to  work,  even 
when  unfortunate,  he  is  liable  to  fail  and  get  the  dry 
rot,  which  is  worse  than  death. 

"  But  my  heart  goes  out  in  sympathy  when  I  think 
of  the  glorified  spirits  which  on  this  coast  have  failed 
and  are  failing  every  day,  because  from  the  first  an 


76  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

iron  fortune  has  hedged  them  round  and  baffled  their 
every  effort,  struggle  as  they  would." 

Carlfn  ceased  speaking,  and  the  silence  which  pre 
vailed  in  the  Club  for  a  moment  was  broken  by  Mil 
ler,  who  said  :  "  Don't  worry  about  them,  Carlin.  If 
they  do  fail  they  have  lots  of  fun  in  trying." 

"  I  would  grave  more  for  your  mon  Joe,"  inter 
posed  Corrigan,  "did  I. not  remember  Mrs.  Dough 
erty,  who  married  the  gintleman  of  properthy,  and 
thin  your  Joe  wur  a  fraud  onyway.  What  wur  there 
in  a  bit  of  a  scrap  to  make  a  mon  grave  himself  into 
craziness  over  it  ?" 

"  Your  stock-buying  illustration  is  not  fair,  Carlin, 
for  that  is  only  a  form  of  gambling  at  best,"  suggested 
Brewster. 

The  Club  winced  under  this  a  little,  for  every  mem 
ber  dabbled  in  stocks  sometimes,  except  Brewster 
and  Harding. 

For  two  evenings  Harding  had  been  scribbling 
away  behind  the  table,  and  during  a  lull  in  the  con 
versation  Ashley  asked  him  what  he  had  been  writ 
ing,  "  Letters  ?"  suggested  Ashley. 

"  No,  not  letters,"  answered  Harding,  senten- 
tiously. 

"What  is  it,  then,"  asked  Miller  ;  "  won't  you  read 
it  to  us  ?  " 

'  Yes,  rade  it,  rade  it,"  said  Corrigan,  and  the  rest 
all  joined  in  the  request. 

"  You  won't  laugh  ?"  said  Harding,  inquiringly. 

They  all  promised,  and  Harding  read  as  follows: 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  77 

THE   PROSPECTOR. 

How  strangely  to-night  my  memory  flings 
From  the  face  of  the  past  its  shadowy  wings, 
And  I  see  far  back  through  the  mist  and  tears 
Which  made  the  record  of  twenty  years; 
From  the  beautiful  days  in  the  Golden  State, 
When  life  seemed  sure  by  long  leases  from  Fate; 
From  the  wondrous  visions  of  "long  ago" 
To  the  naked  shade  that  we  call  "  now." 

Those  halcyon  days!     There  were  four  with  me  then- 
Ernest  and  Ned,  Wild  Tom  and  Ben. 
Now  all  are  gone;  Tom  was  first  to  die. 
I  held  his  hands,  closed  his  glazed  eye; 
And  many  a  tear  o'er  his  grave  we  shed 
As  we  tenderly  pillowed  his  curly  head 
In  the  shadows  deep  of  the  pines,  that  stand 
Forever  solemn,  forever  fanned 
By  the  winds  that  steal  through  the  Golden  Gate 
And  spread  their  balm  o'er  the  Golden  State. 

And  the  others  too,  they  all  are  dead. 
By  the  turbid  Gila  perished  Ned; 
Brave,  noble  Ernest,  he  was  lost 
Amid  Montana's  ice  and  frost; 
And  out  upon  a  desert  trail 
Our  Bennie  met  the  spectre  pale. 

And  I  am  left — the  last  of  all — 
And  as  to-night  the  white  snows  fall, 
As  barbarous  winds  around  me  roar, 
I  think  the  long  past  o'er  and  o'er — 
What  I  have  hoped  and  suffered,  all; 
From  twenty  years  rolls  back  the  pall, 
From  the  dusty,  thorny,  weary  track, 
As  the  tortuous  path  I  follow  back. 

In  my  childhood's  home  they  think  me,  there, 

A  failure,  or  lost,  till  my  name  in  the  prayer 

At  eve  is  forgot.     Well,  they  cannot  know 

That  my  toil  through  heat,  through  tempest  and  snow 

While  it  seemed  for  naught  but  a  struggle  for  pelf, 

Was  more  for  them,  far  more,  than  myself. 

Ah,  well!     As  my  hair  turns  slowly  to  gray 

The  places  of  childhood  are  fading  away; 

And  my  dreams  are  changing.      'Tis  home  no  more, 


78  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

For  shadowy  hands  from  the  other  shore 
Stretch  nightly  down,  and  it  seems  as  when 
I  lived  with  Tom,  Ned,  Ernest  and  Ben. 

And  the  mountains  of  Earth  seem  dwindling  down, 

And  the  hills  of  Eden,  with  golden  crown, 

Rise  up,  and  I  think,  in  the  last  great  day, 

Will  my  claim  above  bear  a  fire  assay? 

From  the  slag  of  earth,  and  the  baser  strains, 

Will  the  crucible  show  of  precious  grains 

Enough  to  give  me  a  standing  above, 

Where  in  temples  of  Peace  rock  the  cradles  of  Love? 

"  That  is  good,  but  it  is  too  serious  by  half,"  Miller 
said,  critically.  "  What  is  a  young  fellow  like  you 
doing  with  such  a  melancholy  view  of  things  ?" 

"  It's  a  heap  better  to  write  such  things  for  pleas 
ure  in  boyhood  than  to  have  to  feel  them  for  a  fact  in 
old  age,"  said  Wright. 

"  I  say,  Harding,  have  you  measured  all  the  fate 
in  that  poem  ? "  remarked  Corrigan,  good-naturedly. 

"  We  have  been  talking  too  seriously  for  two  or 
three  evenings  and  it  is  influencing  Harding,"  was 
Miller's  comment. 

Brewster  thought  it  was  a  good  way  for  Sammie 
to  spend  his  evenings.  It  would  give  him  discipline, 
which  would  help  him  in  writing  all  his  life. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  next  evening  Wright  had  business  down 
town. 

"Carlin  was  right  last  night,"  began  Miller,  "when 
he  said  that  all  men  were  naturally  lazy.  Laziness 
is  a  fixed  principle  in  this  world.  I  can  prove  it  by 
my  friend  Wand  down  at  Pioche. 

"  When  he  was  not  so  old  as  he  has  been  these  last 
few  years,  he  made  a  visit  to  San  Francisco,  and  one 
day,  passing  a  building  on  Fourth  street,  saw  within 
several  hives  of  bees,  evidently  placed  there  to  be 
sold.  Some  whim  led  him  within  the  building,  and, 
from  the  man  in  charge,  he  learned  that  in  Cali 
fornia,  because  of  the  softer  climate,  bees  worked 
quite  nine  months  in  the  year;  that  a  good  swarm  of 
bees  would  gather  a  certain  number  of  pounds  of 
honey  in  a  season,  which  sold  readily  at  a  certain 
price,  making  a  tremendous  percentage  on  the  cost 
of  the  bees,  which  was,  if  I  remember  correctly,  one 
hundred  dollars  per  hive.  The  idea  seemed  to  strike 
Wand.  He  had  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  and  all  that 
day  he  was  mentally  estimating  how  much  money 
could  be  made  out  of  fifteen  swarms  of  bees  in  a 
year.  The  figures  looked  exceedingly  encouraging. 
They  always  do,  you  know,  when  your  mind  is  fixed 
upon  a  certain  business  which  you  want  to  engage  in. 

79 


8O  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  That  evening  Wand  happened  to  meet  a  friend 
who  had  just  come  in  from  Honolulu.  This  friend 
was  enthusiastic  over  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  There 
was  perpetual  summer  there  and  ever-blooming 
flowers.  Before  one  flower  cast  its  leaves,  others  on 
the  same  tree  were  budding.  Their  glory  was  ever 
before  the  eyes  and  their  incense  ever  upon  the  air. 

"  Wand  fell  asleep  that  night  trying  to  estimate 
how  much  money  a  swarm  of  bees  would  make  per 
year  in  a  land  of  perpetual  summer.  The  conclusion 
was  that  next  morning  Wand  bought  twelve  hives  of 
bees,  and  that  afternoon  sailed  with  them  for  Hono 
lulu. 

"  He  found  a  lovely  place  for  his  bees,  and  saw 
with  kindling  pleasure  that  they  readily  assimilated 
with  the  new  country  and  went  to  work  with  appar 
ent  enthusiasm. 

"  The  bees  worked  steadily  until,  in  their  judg 
ment,  it  was  time  for  winter  to  come.  Then  they 
ceased  to  work,  remained  in  their  hives  until  they  ate 
up  their  hoarded  wealth,  and  then,  as  Wand  expres 
ses  it,  '  took  to  the  woods.' 

"He  borrowed  the  money  necessary  to  pay  his  pas 
sage  to  San  Francisco,  and  ever  since  has  sworn  that 
.bees  are  like  men,  '  natural  loafers,'  that  will  network 
unless  they  are  forced  to.  He  believes  that  the 
much  lauded  ant  would  be  the  same  way  if  it  were 
not  urged  on  to  work  perpetually  by  the  miser's  fear 
of  starvation." 

Carlin  suggested  that  the  question  be  tested  nearer 
home,  and  called  out,  "  Yap  Sing  !  " 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  8 1 

The  Mongolian  came  in  from  the  kitchen  and  Car- 
lin  interrogated  him. 

"  Yap,  do  you  like  to  work  ?  " 

"  Yes,  me  heap  likee  workee." 

"  How  many  hours  a  day  do  you  like  to  work, 
Yap  ? " 

"  Maybe  eight  hour,  maybe  ten  hour,  maybe  six 
teen  hour." 

"  We  give  you  forty  dollars  a  month.  Would  you 
work  harder  if  we  paid  you  fifty  dollars  ?" 

"  No.  Me  thinkee  not,"  answered  Yap,  adroitly. 
''You  sabbee,  you  hire  me,  me  sellee  you  my  time. 
Me  workee  all  the  same,  forty  doll's,  fifty  doll's,  one 
hundred  doll's.  No  diffelence." 

"Yap,  suppose  you  were  to  get  $3,000,  would  you 
work  then  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes.     Me  workee  all  the  same,  now." 

"  Suppose,  Yap,  you  had  $5,000 — what  then  ?" 

"  Me  workee  all  the  same." 

"  Do  you  ever  buy  stocks?  " 

"  Sum  time  buy  lettle  ;  not  muchee. 

"  Suppose,  Yap,  that  sometime  stocks  would  go  up 
and  make  you  $20,000,  would  you  work  then  ?  " 

The  Chinaman,  with  eyes  blazing,  replied  vehe 
mently  :  "  Not  one  d—  — d  bittee." 

The  Club  agreed  that  Carlin  had  pretty  well  settled 
a  vexed  question,  that  conditions  which  would  make 
both  the  bee  and  the  Chinaman  idlers  would  be  apt 
to  very  soon  cause  the  Caucasian  to  lie  in  the  shade. 

"  And  yet,"  mused  Brewster,  "  there  are  mighty 
works  going  on  everywhere.  This  Nation  to-day 
makes  a  showing  such  as  this  world  never  saw  before. 


82  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

From  sea  to  sea,  for  three  thousand  miles,  the  chariot 
wheels  of  toil  are  rolling  and  roaring  as  they  never 
did  in  any  other  land.  The  energy  that  is  exhausted 
daily  amounts  to  more  than  all  the  world's  working 
forces  did  a  hundred  years  ago.  The  thing  to  grieve 
about  is  not  that  there  is  not  enough  work  being  per 
formed,  but  that  in  this  intensely  practical  and  mater 
ial  age,  the  gentler  graces  in  the  hearts  of  men  are 
being  neglected.  In  the  race  for  wealth  the  higher 
aspirations  are  being  smothered.  If  from  the  '  tongue- 
less  past'  there  could  be  awakened  the  silent  voices, 
the  cry  which  would  be  heard  over  all  others  would 
be  :  '  I  had  some  golden  thoughts  ;  I  meant  to  have 
given  them  expression,  but  the  swiftly  moving  years 
with  their  cares  were  too  much  for  me,  and  I  died 
and  made  no  sign.' 

"  If  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  ghost  of  memory,  all 
the  aisles  of  the  past  are  full  of  wailing  voices,  wail 
ing  over  facts  unspoken,  over  eloquence  that  in  pas 
sionate  hearts,  died  unuttered,  over  divine  poems  that 
never  were  set  to  earthly  music.  Aside  from  native 
indolence,  most  men  are  struggling  for  bread,  and 
when  the  day's  work  is  completed,  brain  and  hand  are 
too  weary  for  further  effort.  So  the  years  drift  by 
until  the  zeal  of  young  ambition  loses  its  electric 
thrill;  until  cares  multiply;  until  infirmities  of  body 
keep  the  chords  of  the  soul  out  of  tune,  and  the  night 
follows,  and  the  long  sleep.  There  were  great  soldiers 
before  Achilles  or  Hector,  but  there  were  no  Homers, 
or  if  there  were,  they  were  dissipated  fellows,  or  they 
were  absorbed  in  business,  or,  under  the  clear  Grecian 
sky,  it  was  their  wont  to  dream  the  beautiful  days 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  83 

away,  and  so,  no  sounds  were  uttered  of  the  kind 
which,  booming  through  space,  strike  at  last  on  the 
immortal  heights,  and  there  make  echoes  which  thrill 
the  earth  with  celestial  music  ever  after.  If  fortune 
had  not  made  an  actor  of  bhakespeare,  and  if  his 
matchless  spirit,  working  in  the  line  of  his  daily  duties, 
had  not  felt  that  all  the  plays  offered  were  mean  and 
poor,  as  wanting  in  dramatic  power  as  they  were  false 
to  human  nature,  and  so  was  roused  to  fill  a  business 
need,  the  chances  are  a  thousand  to  one  that  he  'would 
have  died  with  all  his  music  in  him,'  and  would,  to 
day,  have  been  as  entirely  lost  in  oblivion  as  are  the 
boors  who  were  his  neighbors.  Just  now  there  is  not 
much  hope  for  our  own  country,  and  probably  will 
not  be  for  another  century.  Present  efforts  are  all  for 
wealth  and  power  and  are  almost  all  earthly.  Every 
thing  is  calculated  from  a  basis  of  coin.  Before  that, 
brains  are  cowed,  and  for  it  Beauty  preserves  her  sweet 
est  smiles.  The  men  who  are  pursuing  grand  ideas 
with  no  motive  more  selfish  than  to  make  the  masses 
of  the  world  nobler,  braver  and  better,  or  to  give  new 
symphonies  to  life,  are  wondrous  few.  There  are 
splendid  triumphs  wrought,  but  they  are  almost  every 
one  material  and  practical. 

"  The  men  who  created  the  science  of  chemistry 
dreamed  of  finding  the  elixir  of  life ;  the  modern 
chemist  pursues  the  study  until  he  invents  a  patent 
medicine  or  a  baking  powder,  and  then  all  his  ener 
gies  are  devoted  to  selling  his  discovery. 

"In  its  youthful  vitality  the  Nation  has  performed 
wonders,  and  from  the  masses  individuals  have  solved 


84  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

many  of  nature's  mysteries  and  bridled  many  ele 
mental  forces. 

"  The  winds  have  been  forced  to  swing  open  the 
doors  to  their  caves  and  show  where  they  are 
brewed ;  the  lightnings  have  submitted  to  curb  and 
rein  ;  the  ship  goes  out  against  the  tempest,  carried 
forward  on  its  own  iron  arms  ;  the  secret  of  the  sun 
light  has  been  fathomed  and  a  counterfeit  light  crea 
ted  ;  the  laws  which  govern  sound  have  been  mas 
tered  until  the  human  voice  now  thrills  a  wire  and  is 
caught  with  perfect  distinctness  sixty  miles  away,  and 
a  thousand  other  such  triumphs  have  been  achieved. 

"  But  no  deathless  poem  has  been  written,  no 
immortal  picture  has  been  called  to  life  on  canvas ; 
no  master  hand  has  touched  the  cold  stone  and  trans 
formed  it  into  something  which  seems  ready,  like  the 
fabled  statue  of  the  old  master,  to  warm  into  life  and 
smiles. 

"  Souls  surcharged  at  first  with  celestial  fire  have 
waited  for  the  work  of  the  bodies  to  be  finished,  that 
they  might  materialize  into  words  of  light  and  splen 
dor,  waited  until  the  tenement  around  them  fell  away 
and  left  them  unvoiced,  to  seek  a  purer  sphere,  and  a 
generation,  three  generations  have  died  with  their 
deepest  tints  unpainted,  their  sweetest  music  unsung. 

"  This  is  one  of  the  penalties  attached  to  the  lay 
ing  of  the  foundations  of  new  States.  There  is  too 
much  to  be  accomplished,  too  many  purely  material 
struggles  to  be  made,  and  so  hearts  are  stifled,  and 
souls,  glowing  with  celestial  fervor,  are  forbidden  an 
altar  on  which  to  kindle  their  sacred  flame. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB  85 

"  England  struggled  a  thousand  years  before  a 
man  appeared  to  shame  wealth,  power  and  titles  with 
the  majesty  of  a  divine  mind.  Perhaps  it  will  be  as 
long  in  the  United  States  before  some  glorified  spirit 
will  appear  to  show  by  example  that  the  things  which 
this  generation  is  struggling  most  for  are  mere  dust 
which,  when  obtained,  are  but  Dead  Sea  fruit  to  the 
lips  of  hope." 

"  But,  Brewster,"  said  Harding,  "  do  you  not  think 
that  a  good  miner  is  of  more  use  to  the  world  than  a 
bad  sculptor?" 

"  Suppose,"  said  Carlin,  "'we  were  all  to  stop  this 
four-dollar-a-day  business  of  ours  and  go  to  writing 
poetry,  who  would  pay  the  Chinaman  and  settle  the 
grocery  bills  at  the  end  of  the  month  ?  " 

"  Were  not  the  Argonauts  making  pretty  good  use 
of  their  time,"  asked  Miller,  "when  in  twelve  years 
they  dug  up  and  gave  to  the  world  nearly  a  thousand 
millions  of  dollars  and  caused  such  a  change  in  the 
business  of  the  country  as  comes  to  the  fainting 
man's  circulation  through  a  transfusion  of  healthy 
blood  into  his  veins  ?" 

"  Did  you  not  tell  us  last  evening,"  said  Ashley, 
"  that  when  a  poor  man  earned  a  home  for  his  wife  and 
babies,  that  to  him  came  the  perfume  and  the  light?" 

"  I  carved  out  some  beautiful  shtories  and  shpoke 
ony  amount  of  illegint  poethry  to  Maggie  Murphy, 
but  it  would  not  do,"  said  Corrigan. 

"  There  is  a  mirage  before  Brewster's  eyes  to 
night,"  said  Miller ;  "  the  business  of  most  men  is  to 
earn  bread." 

Then  Brewster,  bristling  up,  responded  : 


86  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  My  answer  to  all  of  you  is  this  :  Man's  first  duty 
is  to  provide  for  himself,  and  for  those  dependent 
upon  him,  by  honest  toil,  either  of  hand  or  brain,  or 
both.  For  a  long  time  you  have  each  worked  eight 
hours  out  of  the  twenty-four;  perhaps  eight  hours 
more  have  been  absorbed  in  eating  and  sleeping. 
What  have  you  done  with  the  other  eight  hours? 
You  are  miners.  You  can  set  timbers  in  line,  you 
can  lie  on  your  backs  and  hit  a  drill  above  you  with 
perfect  precision  ;  but  could  you  make  a  draught  of  a 
mine,  or  clothe  a  description  of  one  in  good  language 
on  paper  ?  You  look  upon  a  piece  of  ore,  but  can 
you  test  it  and  tell  how  much  it  is  worth  ?  These 
are  all  legitimate  parts  of  your  business  as  miners, 
and  I  refer  to  them  merely  to  illustrate  that  in  the 
excitements  of  this  city,  and  in  the  dream  of  getting 
rich  by  stock  speculations,  you  have  not  only  neg 
lected  your  better  natures,  but  have  failed  to  thor 
oughly  equip  yourselves  in  your  real  business.  You 
can  see  what  you  have  actually  lost,  but  you  cannot 
estimate  the  pleasure  you  have  been  denying  your 
selves.  Then  when  you  are  too  old  to  work,  what 
amusements  and  diversions  are  you  preparing  for  old 
age?" 

"  For  that  matter,"  said  Miller,  "  ask  the  man  who 
fell  down  the  Alta  shaft  last  week,  800  feet  to  the 
sump,  and  of  whose  body  the  pieces  that  could  be 
found  were  sewed  up  in  a  canvas  to  be  brought  to  the 
surface." 

Then  there  was  a  silence  for  several  minutes  until 
a  freight  train,  with  two  locomotives  (a  double 
header),  came  up  the  heavy  grade  from  Gold  Hill 


THE    COMSTOCK.    CLUB.  87 

and,  when  opposite  the  house  of  the  Club,  both  loco 
motives  whistled.      At  this  Corrigan  said  : 

"  Hear  those  black  horses  neigh  ?  What  a  hail 
they  give  to  the  night !  What  a  power  they  have 
under  their  black  skins  !  I  wonder  if  they  don't 
think  sometimes,  the  off-colored  monsters  ! " 

"  If  the  steam  engine  has  not  reflective  faculties 
it  ought  to  have,"  said  Harding,  "The  highest 
pleasures  which  a  man,  in  his  normal  state,  can  have 
are  the  approving  whispers  of  his  own  soul.  If  in  the 
iron  frame  of  the  steam  engine  there  could  be  hidden 
a  soul,  what  whispers  would  thrill  it  in  these  days  ! 
Methinks  they  would  be  something  like  this  : 

'"When  I  was  born  Invention  gave  to  Progress  a 
child  which  was  to  be  to  the  modern  world  what  the 
Genii  were  to  the  ancient  world,  except  that  I  am 
real,  while  the  Genii  were  but  dreams.  In  me  man 
finds  the  materialization  of  a  dream  which  haunted 
mortals  through  the  centuries,  while  the  world  was 
slowly  pressing  onward  to  a  better  state.  At  my 
birth  men  were  glad  to  give  to  me  their  burdens,  be 
cause  I  could  carry  them  without  fatigue.  They 
thought  me  but  a  dumb  slave  to  do  their  bidding  ; 
they  saw  that  I  could  add  greatly  to  their  achieve 
ments  by  enabling  them  to  overcome  heavy  matter, 
and  with  tireless  feet  to  chase  the  swift  hours.  I  can 
not  add  to  man's  actual  years,  but  I  can  make  one  hour 
for  him  equal  to  a  day  in  the  olden  time.  At  first 
my  work  was  confined  to  the  closely-peopled  regions. 
But  at  length  I  was  pushed  out  beyond  the  settle 
ments  of  men,  and  then  something  of  the  divinity 
within  me  began  to  assert  itself.  Savage  man  and 


88  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

the  wild  beast  retired  before  me  ;  wnen  the  path  was 
made  for  me  into  the  immemorial  hills,  before  my 
scream  the  scream  of  the  eagle  died  away.  The 
lordly  bird  spread  his  wings  to  seek  more  impene 
trable  crags.  Following  in  my  wake,  civilization 
came ;  homes  sprang  up,  temples  to  art  and  to  learn 
ing  were  upreared,  and  on  the  air,  which  but  a  year 
before  was  startled  only  by  barbarous  cries,  there  fell 
the  benediction  of  children's  voices,  as  with  swinging 
satchels  in  their  hands,  they  sang  their  songs  going 
to  and  returning  from  schools.  Then  man  began  to 
discover  that  there  was  more  to  me  than  polished 
iron  and  brass  ;  more  than  a  heart  of  fire  and  a 
breath  of  steam.  In  my  headlight  they  began  to  dis 
cover  a  faint  reflection  of  the  Infinite  light,  and  in 
whispers  began  to  say:  "It  is  not  a  dumb  slave; 
rather  it  is  to  Progress  an  evangel."  As  my  power 
increased,  it  was  seen  that  as  the  wild  man  and  wild 
beast  fled  before  me,  old  bigotries  and  old  supersti 
tions  likewise  fled,  snarling  like  wolves,  from  my 
path ;  man  moved  up  to  a  higher  plane,  and  as  he 
comprehended  himself  better,  his  thoughts  were  led 
upward  ;  with  enlarged  ideas  and  deeper  reverence, 
he  turned  to  the  contemplation  of  the  First  Great 
Cause  who  thrilled  the  dull  matter  of  the  universe 
with  His  own  celestial  light  and  order,  and  estab 
lished  that  notfling  was  made  in  vain.  And  now  a 
path  is  to  be  made  down  where  the  terrible  Spaniard 
wrested  an  empire  from  the  Aztecs  ;  where,  with  the 
sword,  he  hewed  down  the  altars  on  which  human 
sacrifices  were  made,  and  built  up  new  altars  conse 
crated  to  Christianity.  The  people  there  will  gather 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  89 

around  me  and  rejoice.  They  think  only  of  material 
things ;  how  I  will  carry  their  burdens,  take  from 
them  the  fatigue  of  travel  and  increase  their  trade. 
They  do  not  know  that  mine  is  a  higher  mission  ; 
that  as  1  do  their  work  there  is  to  gradually  fade 
from  the  faith  that  holds  them,  the  superstitions 
which  for  centuries  have  environed  their  better 
selves  and  benumbed  their  grander  energies.  They 
will  not  realize,  what  is  true,  that  angels  still  walk 
with  men ;  that  it  is  the  near  presence  of  the  angels 
of  Progress,  Truth,  Free  Thought,  Mercy  and  Eternal 
Justice,  all  rejoicing,  which  will  give  the  thrill  to 
their  hearts.  As  yet  my  work  has  hardly  begun. 
It  is  not  yet  fifty  years  since  I  became  a  power  in  the 
world.  Wait  until  I  am  better  understood,  until  the 
smooth  paths  are  made  for  me  through  all  the  wilder 
ness,  over  all  the  rivers  and  hills,  and  I  am  given 
dominion  over  all  the  deep  seas,  that  I  may  swiftly 
bring  together  the  children  of  men,  till  gradually  the 
nations  will  take  on  thoughts  in  unison  and  return  to 
that  tongue  which  was  universal  when  the  world 
was  young,  and,  as  yet,  man  walked  in  the  clear 
image  of  his  Creator.  Then  armies  will  melt  away 
before  me  as  savage  tribes  now  do ;  then  no  more 
cannons  will  be  cast,  no  more  swords  fashioned. 
Then,  through  my  example,  labor  in  the  walks  of 
peace  will  become  exalted  ;  then  the  thirst  for  gold 
will  cease,  because  I  will  till  the  field,  drive  the  loom, 
and  take  from  man  all  that  is  servile  or  gross  in  toil ; 
and  gradually  the  wild  beast  in  men's  souls  will  be 
bred  out,  and  in  the  peace,  of  perfect  brotherhood 


90  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

men  will  possess  the  earth,  and  I  will  be  the  good 
angel  that  will  take  away  the  burdens.' ' 

As  if  in  response  to  the  words  of  Harding,  just  as 
he  finished  the  whistles  all  up  and  down  the  great 
lode  sounded  for  the  eleven  o'clock  change  of  shift, 
and  the  Club  retired  with  this  remark  from  Cor- 
rigan  : 

"  Harding,  they  heard  what  yez  was  remarkin' 
upon,  and  now  hear  the  whole  row  of  them  cheerin' 
your  spache." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Just  after  the  lamps  were  lighted  the  next  evening 
the  door  opened  and  the  Professor,  Colonel  Savage 
and  Alex.  Strong  came  in.  The  greetings  were 
warm  all  around,  and  at  once  conversation  turned 
upon  stocks.  The  Professor  insisted  that  the  first 
great  showing  was  to  be  made  in  the  south-end  mines, 
Alex,  still  believed  in  Overman,  the  Colonel  was  san 
guine  over  Utah,  Ashley  asked  the  opinion  of  the 
others  on  Sierra  Nevada.  The  general  sentiment  was 
that  if  Skae  had  any  real  indication  there  the  Bonanza 
firm  would  gobble  it  up  before  any  outsider  could 
realize. 

Wright  still  inclined  to  the  belief  that  the  water 
must  be  conquered  pretty  soon  in  the  Savage  and  that 
there  would  be  a  showing  that  would  make  every 
servant  girl  and  hostler  on  the  coast  want  some  Sav 
age. 

So  the  conversation  ran  on  for  an  hour,  until  some 
thing  was  said  which  turned  the  conversation  upon 
the  strange  characters  which  had  been  met  on  the 
western  coast.  At  length  the  Colonel  settled  down 
for  a  talk,  and  the  others  became  willing  listeners. 

"  I  have  met  many  royal  people  on  this  coast," 
began  the  Colonel.  "  Royal,  though  they  neverwore 
crowns,  at  least  crowns  not  visible  in  the  dim  light  of 
this  world.  The  emblems  of  their  royalty  were  hid- 

91 


92  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB 

den  from  most  mortal  eyes.  In  narrow  spheres  they 
lived  and  died,  and  only  a  few,  besides  God,  knew  of 
their  sovereignty.  One  of  these  was  old  Zack  Tay 
lor.  His  last  years  were  passed  in  Plumas  and  Las- 
sen  counties,  California.  When  he  came  there  his 
hair  was  already  silvered  ;  he  must  have  been  fifty 
years  of  age. 

"  No  one  knew  his  antecedents.  In  the  excite 
ment  and  free-heartedness  of  those  days  not  many 
questions  were  asked.  Besides  the  young  and  hope 
ful  there  were  many  who  had  sought  the  new  land  as 
a  balm  for  domestic  troubles  ;  as  a  spot  where  former 
misfortunes  might  be  forgotten,  where  early  mistakes 
might,  in  earnest  lives,  be  buried  out  of  sight.  With 
the  rest  came  Zack  Taylor.  From  the  first  that 
region  seemed  to  possess  a  charm  for  him.  No  per 
son  can  imagine  the  splendor  in  natural  scenery  of 
Plumas  county.  It  must  be  seen  to  be  comprehended. 
The  mountains  are  tremendous  ;  the  valleys  are  so 
fair  that  they  seem  like  pictures  in  their  mountain 
frames.  And  so  they  are.  They  are  the  work  of  a 
Master's  hand  whose  work  never  fades.  His  signet 
is  upon  them  as  it  was  indented,  when,  in  the  long 
ago,  it  was  decided  that  at  last  the  earth  was  fitted  to 
be  a  habitation  for  man. 

"  The  forests  are  such  forests  as  are  nowhere  seen 
in  this  world  except  in  the  Pacific  States  of  the  Uni 
ted  States.  There  is  no  exaggeration  in  this.  Ordi 
nary  pines  will  make  ten  thousand  feet  of  lumber, 
and  they  stand  very  near  together,  those  mighty 
pines  of  the  Sierras. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  93 

"The  panoramas  that  are  unrolled  there  when 
nature  is  in  the  picture-making  mood  are  most  gor 
geous.  Some  that  I  saw  there  linger  fresh  upon  my 
mind  still.  They  come  to  me  sometimes  when  I  am 
down  in  the  depths  of  the  mine,  and  for  a  moment  I 
forget  the  heat  and  the  gloom. 

"  As  a  rule,  all  the  summer  long,  the  skies  are  of  a 
crystal  clearness  ;  the  green  of  the  hilltops  melts  into 
the  everlasting  incandescent  white  beyond,  and  there 
is  no  change  for  days  and  weeks  at  a  time,  except  as 
the  green  of  the  day  fades  into  the  shadows  of  the 
night,  and  the  gold  of  the  sunlight  gives  place  to  the 
silver  of  the  stars. 

"  It  was  in  this  region  that  Zack  Taylor  came  and 
made  his  abode.  About  him  was  an  air  of  perfect 
contentment.  Besides  his  blanching  hair  there 
were  deep  lines  upon  his  face,  which  were  an  alpha 
bet  from  which  could  be  spelled  out  stones  of  past 
excitements  and  trials,  but  if  sorrows  and  sufferings 
were  included,  the  firm  lips  gave  no  sign,  and  the 
bright,  black  eyes  were  ever  kindly.  There  were 
rumors  that  he  had  been  a  soldier,  but  the  general 
impression  was  that  from  childhood  he  had  been 
tossed  about  on  the  frontier.  He  had  the  moods,  the 
gestures  and  the  dialect  of  the  frontier.  He  liked 

o 

wild  game  cooked  upon  a  camp  fire,  and,  in  frontier 
phrase,  he  could  '  punish  a  heap  of  whisky.' 

"  He  was  at  home  everywhere  ;  in  the  saloons  his 
coming  was  always  welcome  ;  when  he  met  a  lady  on 
the  street,  no  matter  whether  she  was  young  or  old, 
fair  or  ugly,  he  always  doffed  his  hat,  and  the  few 
children  of  those  early  days  looked  upon  him  as  a 


94 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB 


father — or  an  angel.  He  had  a  cheery,  hearty,  win 
some  way  which  drew  all  hearts  to  him. 

"  When  I  saw  him  last  the  gray  hair  had  turned  to 
snowy  white ;  the  scars  of  time  had  grooved  deeper 
furrows  on  cheek  and  brow,  the  old  elastic,  merry 
way  had  grown  sedate,  but  the  black  eyes  were  still 
kindly  and  bright.  At  that  time  he  lived,  a  welcome 
pauper  on  the  citizens  of  Susanville,  in  Lassen 
county. 

"  When  hungry  he  went  where  he  pleased  and  got 
food  ;  when  he  needed  clothes  they  were  forthcom 
ing  in  any  store  where  he  applied  for  them.  When, 
sometimes,  merchants  would  in  jest  banter  him  for 
money  on  account  of  what  he  owed,  his  way  was  to 
softly  suggest  to  them  that  if  the  patronage  of  the 
place  did  not,  in  their  judgments,  justify  them  in 
remaining,  there  was  no  constitutional  objection  that 
he  was  aware  of  to  prevent  their  making  an  auction. 

"One  fearfully  cold  winter's  night  a  few  of  us  were 
sitting  around  the  stove  in  the  Stewart  House,  in 
Susanville,  when  Old  Zack  came  in.  The  circle  was 
widened  for  him,  and  as  he  drew  up  to  the  fire,  some 
one  said  :  '  Zack,  tell  us  about  that  night's  work  when 
you  tended  bar  for  the  poker  players.' 

"'It  wus  down  on  Noth  Fok  (North  Fork)  of 
Feather  River,  'bout  '520^53,  I  disremember which,' 
began  Zack.  '  It  wus  in  the  winter,  and  it  bein'  too 
cold  for  minin',  ther  boys  wus  all  in  camp.  Thar  wus 
no  women  thar,  leastways  no  ladies,  and  women  as 
isn't  ladies — but  we  dun  no  who  thar  mothers  wus, 
nor  how  much  they  has  suffered,  and  we  haint  got  no 
business  to  talk  about  'em.  But,  as  I  wus  sayin',  the 


TIIK    COMS'IUCK    <  LUI5  95 

boys  wus  all  in  camp,  and  thar  wus  lots  of  beans  and 
whisky  and  sich  things,  and  we  hed  good  times,  you 
bet! 

"  '  Jake  Clark  kept  a  saloon  thar,  which  wus  sort  of 
headquarters,  and  sometimes  when  the  boys  got 
warmed  up  on  Jake's  whisky  thar  wus  lively  times. 
Well,  I  should  remark.  It  wussent  much  wonder, 
neither,  for  Jake  made  his  whisky  in  the  back  room, 
made  it  out  of  old  boots,  akerfortis  and  sich  things, 
and  if  you  believe  me,  a  fire  assay  of  that  beverage 
would  have  shown  98  per  cent,  of  cl'ar  hell.  Thar 
wus  three  or  four  copies  of  Shakespeare  in  camp,  and 
everybody  got  a  Sacermento  Union  every  week  when 
the  express  came  in  ;  so  we  kept  posted  solid.  Speakin' 
of  that,  if  folks  only  jest  stick  to  Shakespeare  and 
then  paternize  one  first-class  paper,  sich  as  the  old 
Union  wus,  and  read  'em,  in  the  long  run  they'd  have 
a  heap  more  sense. 

'"Of  course  the  boys  would  play  poker  sometimes. 
Men  will  always  do  that  when  the  reproach  in  honest 
women's  eyes  is  taken  away,  and  I  have  heard,  now 
and  then,  of  one  who  would  play  in  spite  of  good 
influences.  At  least  thar  is  rumors  to  that  effect. 

"  '  Well,  they  wus  playin'  one  night,  five  or  six  of 
them,  inter  Jake's  saloon.  It  got  to  be  about  ten 
o'clock,  and  Jake  says  to  me,  says  he,  "Zack,  them 
fellers  is  playin'  and  will  most  likely  run  it  all  night. 
By  mornin'  Tom  D.  will  have  the  hul  pile,  and  Tom 
never  pays  nuthin'.  I'm  goin'  home.  You  run  the 
ranch,  Zack,  and  when  they  call  for  it  you  give  'em 
whisky  outer  this  'ere  keg,  so  if  they  never  pay  we 


o6  mi-;  COM  STOCK  CLUB 

won't  lose  too  much."  This  he  told  me  in  a  low 
voice  behind  the  bar  in  confidence  like. 

"  '  Jake  started  for  home  and  I  went  on  watch. 
Thar  wus  lots  of  coin  and  dust  on  the  table  and  the 
boys  wus  playin'  high.  I  stood  behind  the  bar  and 
watched  'em,  and  as  I  watched  I  said  to  myself,  says 
I,  "The  doggoned  cusses  !  They  come  here  and  bum 
Jake's  fuel  and  lights,  and  drink  his  whisky,  and 
don't  pay  nuthin'.  It's  too  bad." 

"  '  Then  an  idea  struck  me.  I  had  a  log  of  fat  pine 
in  the  back  yard.  It  wus  fuller  of  pitch  than  Bill 
Pardee  is  of  religion  in  revival  times,  and  I  thought 
of  somethin'.  I  went  out,  got  a  lot  of  the  pitch, 
warmed  it  in  the  candle  down  behind  the  bar  and 
rubbed  it  all  along  the  bottom  of  my  hands,  so,  and 
then  I  waited  developments. 

" '  Pretty  soon  thar  wus  a  call  for  whisky.  I 
started  out  with  a  bottle  in  one  hand  and  a  glass  in 
the  other,  and,  setting  down  the  glass  first,  I  said, 
"  'Ere's  your  glass,"  and  settin'  down  the  bottle,  said, 
"  'Ere's  your  whisky." 

'"They  drank  all  'round,  when  Harlow  Porter 
said  :  "  This  is  mine,  Zack."  I  argued  the  pint  with 
him  and  asked  him  how  a  man  could  furnish  a  house, 
lights,  fires  and  whisky,  and  keep  it  up  if  nobody 
paid  ?  They  told  me  to  "  hire  a  hall,"  and  all  laughed. 
It  was  only  Old  Zack,  you  know. 

"  '  But  I  did  tolerable  well  after  all.  When  I  sat 
down  the  glass  half  a  dollar  stuck  to  my  hand,  and 
when  I  sat  down  the  whisky  the  other  hand  caught 
up  a  two  and  a  half  piece. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  97 

"  'The  playin'  went  on,  and  I  warmed  my  hands. 
By  and  by  more  whisky  wus  called  for.  I  responded. 
Once  more  I  said,  "  'Ere's  your  glass,"  and  "  'ere's 
your  whisky."  They  drank,  and  then  Henry  Moore 
said  to  Hugh  Richmond,  "Why  don't  you  ante?" 
•'  I  have,"  wus  Hugh's  reply;  "  I  jist  put  up  five  dol 
lars."  "  No,  you  didn't,"  said  Henry.  "Yes,  I  did," 
said  Hugh,  hotly.  "You're  a  liar,"  said  Miller,  and 
then  biff  !  biff  '  biff  !  came  the  blows. 

"  'I  got  down  behind  the  bar,  for  some  of  them 
cusses  would  shoot  if  half  a  chance  wus  given  them. 
The  truth  wus,  I  had  picked  up  the  five  with  my 
pitch  when  I  said,  "  'Ere's  your  whisky." 

"  'The  boys  got  hold  and  stopped  the  row  and  the 
players  proceeded.  The  oftener  they  drank  the  wuss 
bookkeepers  they  became,  and  all  the  time  I  wus 
doin'  reasonably  well. 

"'Durin'the  night  I  took  in  eighty-three  dollars 
and  seen  a  beautiful  fight. 

"  'I  didn't  tell  of  it,  though,  for  nigh  onto  three 
year,  'cept  to  Jake.  It  nearly  killed  me  to  keep  it  to 
myself.  But,  Lord,  wouldn't  they  have  made  it  tropic 
for  me  if  they'd  ever  dropped  on  the  business !  .Well, 
I  should  remark ! ' 

"When  Zack  finished  his  story  I  asked  if  he  would 
not  take  something, 

"  He  remarked  that  he  was  not  particularly  proud, 
and,  besides,  the  weather  was  '  powerful  sarchin';'  he 
believed  he  would. 

"He  swallowed  a  stiff  drink,  returned  to  the  stove, 
resumed  his  seat,  began  and  told  the  whole  story 
over,  except  that  the  whisky  was  having  its  effect,  and 


98  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

as  he  drew  towards  the  close  he  commenced  to  exag 
gerate,  and  wound  up  by  the  assertion  that  he  took  in 
one  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  and  saw  two  tremen 
dous  fights. 

"  Some  one  else  asked  him  to  drink.  He  accepted, 
then  returned  to  his  chair  and  apparently  fell  into  a 
doze.  After  a  few  minutes,  however,  he  aroused 
himself  and  began  again,  as  follows  : 

"'It  wus  down  on  Noth  Fok  of  Feather  River,  in 
'52  or  '53,  I  disremember  which.  It  was  in  the  win 
ter,  and  it  bein'  too  cold  for  minin'  ther  boys  wus  all 
in  camp.  Thar  wus  no  women  thar,  leastways  no 
ladies,  and  women  as  is  no  ladies — but  we  dun  no.' 

"Here  I  arose  arid  slipped  out  of  the  room.  Re 
turning  about  fifteen  minutes  later  I  found  Old  Zack 
gesticulating  wildly,  and  in  a  high  key  exclaiming  : 

"  'I  everlastingly  broke  the  boys  with  my  pitch. 
I  took  in  three  hundred  and  forty-three  dollars,  and 
seen  three  the  dod~durndest  fights  in  the  world' 

"But  it  was  not  this  that  I  began  to  tell.  Three 
or  four  years  before  Zack's  death  a  courier  announced 
to  the  people  of  Susanville  that  three  days  before, 
out  near  Deep  Hole,  on  the  desert  eighty  miles  east 
of  Susanville,  a  man  had  been  killed  by  renegade 
Pi  Ute  Indians.  The  announcement  made  only  a 
temporary  impression,  for  such  news  was  often 
brought  to  Susanville  in  those  days.  In  a  very  few 
years  eighty  Lassen  county  men  were  murdered  by 
Indians. 

"  A  few  days  after  the  news  of  this  particular  mur 
der  was  brought  in,  Susanville  began  to  be  vexed  by 
the  evident  presence  of  a  mysterious  thief.  If  a  hun- 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  99 

ter  brought  in  a  brace  of  grouse   or  rabbits   and  left 
them  exposed  for  a  little  while  they  disappeared. 

"If  a  string  of  trout  were  caught  from  the  river 
and  were  left  anywhere  for  a  few  minutes  they  were 
lost.  Gardens  were  robbed  of  fruit  and  vegetables ; 
blankets,  flannels  and  groceries  disappeared  from 
stores.  The  losses  became  unbearable  at  length; 
everybody  was  aroused  and  on  the  alert,  but  no 
thief  could  be  discovered,  though  the  depredations 
still  went  on.  This  continued  for  days  and  weeks, 
until  the  people  became  desperate,  and  many  a  threat 
was  made  that  when  the  thief  should  finally  be  caught, 
in  disposing  of  him  the  grim  satisfaction  of  the  fron 
tier  should  be  fully  enjoyed.  Old  Zack  was  especi 
ally  fierce  in  his  denunciations. 

"  One  morning  a  horseman  dashed  into  town,  his 
mustang  coming  in  on  a  dead  run.  Reining  up  in 
front  of  the  main  hotel,  he  sprang  down  from  his 
horse  and  to  the  people  who  came  running  to  see 
what  was  the  matter,  he  explained  that  a  half  a  mile 
from  town,  around  the  bend  of  the  hill,  in  the  old 
deserted  cabin,  he  had  found  the  widow  of  the  man 
killed  weeks  before  by  the  Indians;  had  found  her  and 
a  nest  of  babies,  and  none  of  them  with  sufficient  food 
or  clothing. 

"  When  the  story  was  finished,  men  and  women- 
half  the  population  of  the  village — made  a  rush  for 
the  cabin.  It  was  nearly  concealed  from  view  from 
the  road  by  thick  bushes,  but  they  found  the  woman 
there  and  four  little  children.  The  woman  seemed 
like  one  half  dazed  by  sorrow  and  despair,  but  when 
questioned,  she  replied  that  she  had  been  there  five 


IOO  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

weeks.  '  But  how  have  you  lived  ? '  asked  a  half 
dozen  voices  in  concert.  Then  the  woman  explained 
that  she  and  her  children  would  have  starved  had  it 
not  been  for  a  kind  old  gentleman  who  brought  her 
everything  that  she  required. 

"'Indeed,'  she  added,  'he  brought  me  many 
things  that  I  did  not  need,  and  which  I  felt  that  I 
ought  not  to  accept,  but  he  over-persuaded  me,  tell 
ing  me  that  I  did  not  know  how  rich  he  was  ;  that 
his  supplies  were  simply  inexhaustible.' 

"  When  asked  to  describe  this  man,  she  began  to 
say  :  '  He  is  a  heavy-set  old  gentleman  ;  wears  blue 
clothes  ;  his  hair  is  white  as  snow,  but  his  eyes  are 
black,  and— '  but  she  was  not  allowed  to  go  any 
farther,  for  twenty  voices,between  weeping  and  laugh 
ing,  cried  '  Old  Zack ! ' 

"The  widow  and  her  children  were  taken  to  the 
village,  a  house  with  its  comforts  was  provided  for 
them,  and  there  was,  thenceforth,  no  more  trouble 
from  the  ubiquitous  thief. 

"  Living  on  charity  himself,  with  the  wreck  of  a 
life  behind  him  and  nothing  before  him  but  the 
grave,  which  he  was  swiftly  nearing,  this  great-hearted 
old  heavenly  bummer  and  Christian  thief  had  taken 
care  of  this  helpless  family,  and  done  it  because 
despite  the  dry  rot  and  the  whisky  which  had 
benumbed  his  energies,  his  soul,  deep  down  was  royal 
to  the  core. 

"  It  is  true  that  he  had  robbed  the  town  to  minister 
to  the  woman  and  her  babies,  but  in  the  books  of  the 
angels,  though  it  was  written  that  he  was  a  thief,  in 
the  same  sentence  it  was  also  added,  '  and  God  bless 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  IOI 

him,'  and  these  words  turned  to  gold  even  as  they 
were  being  written. 

"  When  Old  Zack  was  asked  why  he  did  not  make 
the  facts  about  the  family  ^known,  after  waiting  a 
moment  he  replied  : 

"  'You  see  I've  been  tossed  about  a  powerful  sight 
in  my  time  ;  have  drank  heaps  of  bad  whisky  ;  have 
done  a  great  many  no-account  things  and  not  a  great 
many  good  ones.  Since  I  wus  a  boy  I  have  never  had 
chick  or  kin  of  my  own.  I  met  the  woman  and  her 
babies  up  by  the  cabin  ;  they  wus  as  pitiful  a  sight  as 
ever  you  seen ;  and  besides,  the  woman  wus  jist  about 
to  go  stark  mad  with  grief  and  hunger  and  anxiety 
and  weariness.  I  seen  she  must  have  quiet,  and  that 
anxiety  about  her  children  must  be  soothed  some 
way.  Then  I  did  some  of  the  best  lyin'  you  ever 
heard.  I  got  her  to  eat  some  supper  and  waited 
until  the  whole  outfit  wus  fast  asleep.  I  watched 
'em  a  little  while  and  then  I  got  curus  to  .know  what 
kind  of  a  provider  I  would  have  made  for  a  family 
had  I  started  out  in  life  different,  and  that  wus  all 
there  wus  about  it.' 

"  Is  it  a  wonder,  then,  that  when  the  old  man  died 
his  body  was  dressed  in  soft  raiment,  placed  in  a 
costly  casket,  and  that,  preceded  by  a  martial  band 
playing  a  requiem,  all  the  people  followed  sorrow- 
ingly  to  the  grave ;  and  that,  as  they  gently  heaped 
the  sods  above  his  breast,  they  sent  after  him  into  the 
Beyond  heartfelt  '  all-hails  and  farewells  ? ' ' 

"  You  see  your  man  through  colored  spectacles, 
Colonel,"  spoke  up  Brewster.  "  From  your  descrip 
tion,  I  think  there  was  more  of  the  border  deviltry  in 


IO2  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

the  old  man  than  there  was  of  true  royalty.  Life  had 
been  a  joke  to  him  always ;  he  played  it  as  a  joke  to 
the  end.  One  such  a  man  was  entertainment  to  the 
village  ;  had  there  been  a  dozen  more  like  him  they 
would  have  become  intolerable  nuisances?" 

"  That,"  said  the  Colonel,  "only  shows  how  misera 
ble  are  my  descriptive  powers.  There  are  not  a 
dozen  other  such  men  as  old  Zack  Taylor  was  among 
all  the  fourteen  hundred  millions  of  people  on  this 
sorrowful  earth." 

"No,"  interposed  Miller,  "you  told  the  story  well 
enough,  but  it  was  only  descriptive  of  a  good- 
humored  bummer  at  best — of  one  who  was  warm 
hearted  without  a  conscience,  of  one  who  was  more 
willing  to  work  to  perpetuate  a  joke  on  others  than 
to  honorably  earn  the  bread  that  he  ate. 

"  I  will  tell  you  of  a  royal  fellow  that  I  knew.  It 
was  Billie  Smith.  He  lived  in  Eureka  that  first  hard 
winter  of  '70-' 71.  He  was  not  a  miner  as  we  are,  re 
ceiving  four  dollars  per  day.  He  and  his  partner,  a 
surly  old  fellow,  had  a  claim  which  they  were  devel 
oping,  hoping  that  it  would  amount  to  something  in 
the  spring.  That  was  before  smelting  had  been 
made  a  success.  The  ores  were  all  base  and  of  too 
low  a  grade  to  ship  away.  These  men  had  a  little 
supply  of  flour,  bacon  and  coffee,  and  that  was  about 
all,  and  it  was  all  they  expected  until  spring. 

"  It  was  early  in  January  and  the  weather  was  ex 
ceedingly  cold.  Their  cabin  was  but  a  rude  hut,  open 
on  every  side  to  the  winds.  I  was  there  and  I  know 
how  things  were.  One  day  I  was  waiting  in  a  tent, 
which  by  courtesy  was  called  a  store,  when  Billie 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  103 

came  in.  He  had  a  cheery  smile  and  hearty,  welcome 
words  for  every  one.  He  had  been  there  but  a  few 
minutes  when  his  partner  came  in.  The  old  man 
was  fairly  boiling  with  rage.  So  angry  was  he  that 
he  could  hardly  articulate  distinctly.  Finally  he 
explained  that  some  thief  had  stolen  their  mattress, 
a  pair  of  their  best  blankets  and  a  sack  of  flour.  He 
wanted  an  officer  dispatched  with  a  search  warrant. 
Then  I  overheard  the  following  conversation  between 
the  two  men  : 

"  '  O,  never  mind,'  said  Billie ;  '  some  poor  devil 
needed  the  things  or  he  would  not  have  taken  them.' 

"'Yes,  but  we  need  them,  too;  need  them  more 
than  anything  else/  was  the  response. 

"  '  O,  we  shall  get  along ;  we  have  plenty.' 

"'Yes,'  retorted  the  partner,  'but  what  are  we 
going  to  do  for  a  bed  ?  Our  hair  mattress  and  best 
pair  of  blankets  are  gone,  and  the  cabin  is  cold.' 

" '  We  can  sew  up  some  sacks  into  a  mattress  and 
fill  it  with  soft  brush  and  leaves,  and  use  our  coats 
for  blankets/  replied  Billie.  '  We'll  get  along  all 
right.  The  truth  is  we  have  been  sleeping  too  warm 
of  late.' 

"  '  Too  warm!'  said  the  partner  bitterly  ;  '  I  should 
think  so.  A  polar  bear  would  freeze  in  that  cabin 
without  a  bed.' 

"  '  Do  you  think  so  ? '  asked  Billie,  smiling,  '  Well, 
that  is  the  way  to  keep  it,  and  so  if  any  wild  animal 
comes  that  way  we  can  freeze  him  out.  Brace  up, 
partner !  Why  should  a  man  make  a  fuss  about  the 
loss  of  a  trifle  like  that  ? ' 


104  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  Later  I  found  out  the  facts.  A  little  below 
Billie's  cabin  was  another  cabin,  into  which  a  family 
of  emigrants  had  moved.  They  were  dreadfully  poor. 
Going  to  and  returning  from  town  Billie  had  noticed 
how  things  were.  One  night  as  he  passed,  going 
home  in  the  dark,  he  heard  a  child  crying  in  the  cabin 
and  heard  it  say  to  its  mother  that  it  was  hungry  and 
cold. 

"  Next  morning  he  waited  until  his  partner  had 
gone  away,  then  rolled  the  mattress  around  a  sack  of 
flour,  then  rolled  the  mattress  and  flour  up  in  his  best 
pair  of  blankets,  swung  the  bundle  on  his  shoulder, 
carried  it  down  the  trail  to  the  other  cabin,  where, 
opening  the  door,  he  flung  it  inside  ;  then  with  finger 
on  his  lip  he  said  in  a  hoarse  whisper  to  the  woman  : 
'  Don't  mention  it !  Not  a  word.  I  stole  the  bundle, 
and  if  you  ever  speak  of  it  you  will  get  me  sent  to 
prison,'  and  in  a  moment  was  swinging  down  the  trail 
singing  joyously : 

'  If  I  had  but  a  thousand  a  year,  Robin  Ruff, 
If  I  had  but  a  thousand  a  year.' 

"  Last  winter,  after  the  fire,  there  was  one  rrtan  in 
this  city,  John  W.  Mackay,  who  gave  $150,000  to  the 
poor.  It  was  a  magnificent  act,  and  was  as  grandly 
and  gently  performed  as  such  an  act  could  be.  No 
one  would  ever  have  known  it,  had  not  the  good  priest 
who  distributed  the  most  of  it,  one  day  mentioned 
the  splendid  fact.  That  man  will  receive  his  reward 
here,  and  hereafter,  for  it  was  a  royal  charity.  But 
he  has  $30,000,000  to  draw  against,  while,  when  Billie 
in  the  wilderness  gave  up  his  bed  and  his  food,  he  not 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  105 

only  had  not  a  cent  to  draw  against,  but  he  had  not 
a  reasonably  well-defined  hope. 

"  When  at  last  the  roll-call  of  the  real  royal  men 
of  this  world  shall  be  sounded,  if  any  of  you  chance 
to  be  there, .  you  will  hear,  close  up  to  the  head  of 
the  list,  the  name  of  Billie  bmith,  and  when  it  shall 
be  pronounced,  if  you  listen,  you  will  hear  a  very  soft 
but  dulcet  refrain  trembling  along  the  harps  and  a 
murmur  among  the  emerald  arches  that  will  sound 
like  the  beating  of  the  wings  of  innumerable  doves." 

"  That  was  a  good  mon,  surely.  Did  he  do  well 
with  his  mine  ?"  asked  Corrigan. 

"No,"  answered  Miller.  "It  was  but  a  little 
deposit,  and  was  quickly  worked  out.  He  scuffled 
along  until  the  purchase  of  the  Eureka  Con.  in  the 
spring,  then  went  to  work  there  for  a  few  months, 
then  came  here,  and  a  day  or  two  after  arriving,  was 
shot  dead  by  the  ruffian  Perkins. 

"  He  was  shot  through  the  brain,  and  people  tell 
me  he  was  so  quickly  transfixed  that  in  his  coffin  the 
old  sunny  smile  was  still  upon  his  face.  I  don't 
believe  that,  though.  I  believe  the  smile  came  when, 
as  the  light  went  out  here,  he  saw  the  dawn  and  felt 
the  hand  clasps  on  the  other  side. 

"  By  the  way,  there  was  a  man  here  who  knew  him, 
and  he  wrote  something  with  the  thought  of  poor 
Billie  in  his  mind  while  he  was  writing." 

At  this  Miller  arose  and  went  to  his  carpet  sack, 
opened  it  and  drew  out  a  paper.  Then  handing  it  to 
Harding,  he  said :  "  Harding,  you  read  better  than  I 
do,  read  it  for  us  all." 

Harding  took  the  paper  and  read  as  follows  : 


IO6  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

ERNEST  FAITHFUL 

'Twas  the  soul  of  Ernest  Faithful 
Loosed  from  its  home  of  clay — 

Its  mission  on  earth  completed, 
To  the  judgment  passed  away. 

'Twas  the  soul  of  Ernest  Faithful 

Stood  at  the  bar  above, 
Where  the  deeds  of  men  are  passed  upon 

In  justice,  but  in  love. 

And  an  angel  questioned  Faithful 
Of  the  life  just  passed  on  earth; 

What  could  he  plead  of  virtue, 
What  could  he  count  of  worth. 

And  the  soul  of  Ernest  Faithful 

Trembled  in  sore  dismay; 
And  from  the  judgment  angel's  gaze 

Shuddering,  turned  away. 

For  memory  came  and  whispered 

How  worldly  was  that  life; 
Unfairly  plotting,  sometimes, 

In  anger  and  in  strife; 

For  a  selfish  end  essaying 

To  treasures  win,  or  fame, 
And  the  soul  of  Ernest  cowered  'neath 

The  angel's  eye  of  flame. 

Then  from  a  book  the  angel  drew 

A  leaf  with  name  and  date, 
A  record  of  this  Ernest's  life 

Wove  in  the  looms  of  fate. 

And  said  :     "  O,  Faithful,  answer  me, 

Here  is  a  midnight  scroll, 
What  didst  thou  'neath  the   stars  that  night? 

Didst  linger  o'er  the  bowl  ? 

"  Filling  the  night  with  revelry 
With  cards  and  wine  and  dice, 

And  adding  music's  ecstasy, 
To  give  more  charms  to  vice?" 

.    Then  the  soul  of  Faithful  answered: 

"  By  the  bedside  of  a  friend 
I  watched  the  long  hours  through;  that  night 
His  life  drew  near  its  end.'' 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  Here's  another  date  at  midnight. 
Where  wast   thou  this  night,  say?" 
"  I  was  waiting  by  the  dust  of  one 
Whose  soul  had  passed  that  day." 

"These  dollar  marks,"  the  angel  said; 

"  What  mean  they,  Ernest,  tell?" 
"  It  was  a  trifle  that  I  gave 

To  one  whom  want  befell." 

'•  Here's  thine  own  picture,  illy  dressed  ; 

What  means  this  scant  attire?" 
"  I  know  not,"  answered  Faithful,  "  save 

That  once,  midst  tempest  dire, 

"  I  found  a  fellow-man  benumbed, 

And  lost  amid  the  storm 
And  so  around  him  wrapped  my  coat, 

His  stiffening  limbs  to  warm." 

"  Here  is  a  woman's  face,  a  girl's 

O,  Ernest,  is  this  well  ? 
Knowst  thou  how  often  women's  arms 

Have  drawn  men's  souls  to  hell?  " 

Then  Ernest  answered  :  "This  poor  girl 

An  orphan  was.      I  gave 
A  trifle  of  my  ample  store 

The  child  from  want  to  save." 

"Next  are  some  words.     What  mean  they  here?" 

Then  Ernest  answered  low  : 
"  A  fellow-man  approached  me  once 

Whose  life  was  full  of  woe, 

"When  I  had  naught  to  give,  except 

Some  words  of  hope  and  trust ; 
I  bade  him  still  have  faith,  for  God 

Who  rules  above  is  just !" 

Then  the  grave  angel  smiled  and  moved 

Ajar  the  pearly  gate 
And  said  :  "  O,  soul  !  we  welcome  thee  • 

Unto  this  new  estate. 

"  Enter  !  Nor  sorrow  more  is  thine, 

Nor  griet;  we  know  thy  creed — 
Thou  who  hast  soothed  thv  fellow-men 

In  hour  of  sorest  need. 


jog  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"Thou  who  hast  watched  thy  brother's  dust 

When  the  wrung  soul  had  fled  ; 
And  to  the  stranger  gave  thy  cloak, 

And  to  the  orphan,  bread. 

"  And  when  all  else  was  gone,  had  still 

A  word  of  kindly  cheer 
For  one  more  wretched  than  thyself. 

Thou,  soul,  art  welcome  here. 

"  Put  on  the  robe  thou  gav'st  away 

'Tis  stainless  now  and  white  ; 
And  all  thy  words  and  deeds  are  gems  ; 

Wear  them,  it  is  thy  right !  " 

And  then  from  choir  and  harp  awoke 

A  joyous,  welcome  strain, 
Which  other  harps  and  choirs  took  up, 

In  jubilant  refrain. 

Till  all  the  aisles  of  Summer  Land 

Grew  resonant,  as  beat 
The  measures  of  that  mighty  song 

Of  welcome  full  and  sweet. 

"  That  is  purty.  I  hope  there  wur  no  mistake 
about  the  gintleman  makin'  the  showin'  up  above," 
said  Corrigan. 

"  What  lots  of  music  there  must  be  up  in  that 
country,"  chimed  in  Carlin.  "  I  wonder  if  there  are 
any  buildings  anywhere  on  the  back  streets  where  new 
beginners  practice." 

"  That  represents  the  Hebrew  idea  of  heaven," 
said  Alex.  "  I  like  that  of  the  savage  better,  with  hills 
and  streams  and  glorious  old  woods.  There  is  a  dearer 
feeling  of  rest  attached  to  it,  and  rest  is  what  a  life 
craves  most  after  a  buffet  of  three  score  years  in  this 
world." 

"  Rest  is  a  pretty  good  thing  after  an  eight-hours' 
wrestle  with  the  gnomes  down  on  a  2,300  level  of  the 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  109 

Comstock,"  said  Miller ;  "  suppose  we  say  good 
night." 

"  Withdraw  the  motion  for  a  moment,  Miller,"  said 
Wright.  "  First,  I  move  that  our  friends  here  be 
made  honorary  members  of  the  Club." 

It  was  carried  by  acclamation,  and  thereafter,  for 
several  nights,  the  three  were  present  nightly. 


CHAPTER  IX 

When  the  Club  reassembled,  Carlin,  addressing  the 
Colonel,  said:  "You  told  us  of  a  royal  old  bummer 
last  night,  and  Miller  told  us  of  an  angel  in  miner's 
garb.  Your  stories  reminded  me  of  something  which 
happened  in  Hamilton,  in  Eastern  Nevada,  in  the 
early  times,  when  the  thermometer  was  at  zero,  when 
homes  were  homes  and  food  was  food.  There  was  a 
royal  fellow  there,  too,  only  he  was  not  a  miner,  and 
though  he  lived  upon  the  earnings  of  others  he  never 
accepted  charity.  By  profession  he  was  a  gambler, 
and  not  a  very  '  high-toned  '  gambler  at  that.  He 
was  known  as  Andy  Flinn,  though  it  was  said,  for 
family  reasons,  he  did  not  pass  under  his  real  name. 

"  Well,  Andy  had,  in  sporting  parlance,  been 
'  playing  in  the  worst  kind  of  luck'  for  a  good  while. 
One  afternoon  his  whole  estate  was  reduced  to  the 
sum  of  fifteen  dollars.  He  counted  it  over  in  his 
room,  slipped  it  back  into  his  pocket  and  started  up 
town.  A  little  way  from  the  lodging  where  he 
roomed  he  was  met  by  a  man  who  begged  him  to  step 
into  the  house  near  by  and  see  how  destitute  the 
inmates  were. 

"  Andy  mechanically  followed  the  man,  who  led  the 
way  to  a  cabin,  threw  open  the  door  and  ushered 
Andy  in.  There  was  a  man,  the  husband  and  father, 
ill  in  bed,  while  the  wife  and  mother,  a  delicate 

no 


THE    COM  STOCK.    CLUB.  Ill 

woman,  and  two  little  children,  were,  in  scanty  gar 
ments,  hovering  around  the  ghost  of  a  fire. 

"  Andy  took  one  look,  then  rushed  out  of  doors, 
the  man  who  had  led  him  into  the  cabin  following. 
Andy  walked  rapidly  away  until  out  of  hearing  of  the 
wretched  people  in  the  house,  then  swinging  on  his 
heel,  for  full  two  minutes  hurled  the  most  apalling 
anathemas  at  the  man  for  leading  him,  as  Andy 
expressed  it,  '  into  the  presence  of  those  advance 
agents  ot  a  famine.' 

"  When  he  paused  for  breath  the  man  said,  quietly: 
'  I  like  that ;  I  like  to  see  you  fellows,  that  take  the 
world  so  carelessly  and  easily,  stirred  up,  occasionally.' 

"'  Easy!'  said  Andy  ;  'you  had  better  try  it.  You 
think  our  work  is  easy  ;  you  are  a  mere  child.  We 
don't  get  half  credit.  1  tell  you  to  make  a  man  an 
accomplished  gambler  requires  more  study  than  to 
acquire  a  learned  profession  ;  more  labor  than  is 
needed  to  become  a  deft  artisan.  You  talk  like  a  fool. 
Easy,  indeed.' 

"'I  don't  care  to  discuss  that  point  with  you, 
Andy,'  said  the  man.  '  I  expect  you  are  right,  but 
that  is  not  the  question.  What  are  you,  a  big, 
strong,  healthy  fellow,  going  to  do  to  help  those  poor 
wretches  in  the  cabin  yonder  ? ' 

"  Andy  plunged  his  hand  into  his  pocket,  drew  out 
the  fifteen  dollars  and  was  just  going  to  pass  it  over 
to  the  man  when  a  thought  struck  him.  '  Hold  on,' 
he  said  ;  '  a  man  is  an  idiot  that  throws  away  his  cap 
ital  and  then  has  to  take  his  chances  with  the  thieves 
that  fill  this  camp.  You  come  with  me.  I  am  going 


112  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

to  try  to  take  up  a  collection.  By  the  way,'  he  said, 
shortly,  '  do  you  ever  pray  ? ' 

"  The  man  answered  that  he  did  sometimes. 
'  Then,'  said  Andy,  '  you  put  in  your  very  biggest 
licks  when  I  start  my  collection.' 

"  Not  another  word  was  said  until  they  reached  and 
entered  a  then  famous  saloon  on  Main  street. 

"  Going  to  the  rear  where  a  faro  game  was  in  prog 
ress,  Andy  exchanged  his  fifteen  dollars  for  chips  and 
began  to  play.  He  never  ceased  ;  hardly  looked  up 
from  the  table  for  two  hours.  Sometimes  he  won 
and  sometimes  he  lost,  but  the  balance  was  on  the 
winning  side.  Finally  he  ceased  playing,  gathered 
up  his  last  stakes,  and  beckoning  to  the  man  who  had 
come  with  him  to  the  saloon,  and  who  had  watched 
his  playing  with  lively  interest,  he  led  the  way  into 
the  billiard  room. 

"  Andy  went  to  the  window  on  one  side  of  the 
room- and  began  to  search  his  pockets,  piling  all  the 
money  he  could  find  on  the  sill  of  the  window.  The 
money  was  all  in  gold  and  silver. 

"  When  his  pockets  were  emptied,  with  the  quick 
ness  of  men  of  his  class,  he  ran  the  amount  over. 
Then  taking  from  a  billiard  table  a  bit  of  chalk  he, 
with  labored  strokes,  wrote  on  the  window  sill  the  fol 
lowing: 

hul  sum $263.50 

starter 0 15.00 


doo  ter  god $248.50 

"  He  picked  up  a  ten-dollar  piece  and  a  five-dollar 
piece  from  the  amount,  then  pushing  the  rest  along 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  11$ 

the  sill  away  from  the  figures,  asked  the  man  to 
count  it.  He  did  so  and  said  : 

"'  I  make  altogether  $248.50,  Andy.' 

"  '  I  suspect  you  are  correct,'  said  Andy,  'and  now 
you  take  that  money  and  go  and  fix  up  those  people 
as  comfortably  as  you  can.  Tell  'em  we  took  up  a 
collection  among  the  boys  ;  don't  say  a  word  about 
it  on  the  outside.  And  see  here  :  If  you  ever  again 
show  me  as  horrible  a  sight  as  that  crowd  makes  in 
that  accursed  den  down  the  street,  I'll  break  every 
bone  in  your  body.' 

"  '  But,'  said  the  man,  '  this  is  not  right,  Andy.  It 
is  too  much.  Fifty  dollars  would  be  a  most  gener 
ous  contribution  from  you.  Give  me  fifty  dollars  and 
you  take  back  the  rest.' 

"  '  What  do  you  take  me  for  ?'  was  Andy's  reply. 
'  Don't  you  think  I  have  any  honor  about  me  ?  When 
I  went  into  that  saloon  I  promised  God  that  if  He 
would  stand  in  with  me,  His  poor  should  have  every 
cent  that  I  could  make  in  a  two  hours'  deal.  I  would 
simply  be  a  liar  and  a  thief  if  I  took  a  cent  of  that 
money.  You  praying  cusses  have  not  very  clear 
ideas  of  right  and  wrong  after  all.' 

"  The  man  went  on  his  errand  of  mercy,  and  Andy 
returned  and  invested  his  money  in  the  bank  again, 
as  he  said,  '  to  try  to  turn  an  honest  penny.' ' 

"  That  was  a  right  ginerous  mon,"  remarked  Cor- 
rigan. 

"  May  be  and  may  be  not,"  was  the  remark  of  the 
Colonel.  "  It  is  possible  that  he  had  been  'playing  in 
bad  luck,'  as  they  say,  for  a  good  while  and  did  it  to 
change  that  luck.  Confirmed  gamesters  never  reason 


COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

-  — r 

clearly  on  ordinary  subjects.  They  are  either  up  in 
the  clouds  or  down  in  the  depths ;  they  are  perpet 
ually  studying  the  doctrine  of  chances,  and  are  as 
full  of  superstitions  as  so  many  fortune-tellers." 

"That  class  of  men  are  proverbially  generous, 
though,"  said  Harding;  "  but  the  way  they  get  their 
money  I  suspect,  has  something  to  do  with  the  mat 
ter.  Had  the  man  earned  the  money  at  four  dollars 
a  day,  running  a  car  down  in  a  hot  mine,  he  would 
hardly  have  given  up  the  whole  sum." 

Here  Miller  took  up  the  conversation.  "  I  knew 
a  man  down  in  Amador  county,  California,"  said  he, 
"who  worked  in  a  mine  as  we  are  working  here,  ex 
cept  that  wages  were  $3.50  instead  of  $4.00  per  day. 
He  came  there  in  the  fall  of  the  year  and  worked 
eight  months.  His  clothes  were  always  poor.  He 
lived  in  a  cabin  by  himself,  and  such  miners  as  hap 
pened  into  his  cabin  at  meal  time  declared  their  be 
lief  that  his  food  did  not  cost  half  a  dollar  a  day.  He 
never  joined  the  miners  down  town  ;  was  never  known 
to  treat  to  as  much  as  a  glass  of  beer.  We  all  hated 
him  cordially  and  looked  upon  him  as  a  miser  so  ava 
ricious  that  he  was  denying  himself  the  common 
comforts  of  life.  He  was  the  talk  of  the  mine,  and 
many  were  the  scornful  words  which  he  was  made  to 
hear  and  to  know  that  they  were  uttered  at  his  ex 
pense.  Still,  he  was  quiet  and  resented  nothing  that 
was  said,  and  there  was  no  dispute  about  his  being  a 
most  capable  and  faithful  miner.  At  last  one  morn 
ing  as  the  morning  shift  were  waiting  at  the  shaft  to 
be  lowered  into  the  mine,  Baxter  (that  was  his  name) 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  115 

appeared,    and,   after    begging    our   attention  for   a 
moment,  said. 

"  '  Gentlemen,  there  is  the  dead  body  of  an  old 
man  up  in  the  cabin  across  from  the  trail.  It  will  cost 
sixty  dollars  to  bury  it  in  a  decent  coffin.  The  under 
taker  will  not  trust  me,  but  if  twenty  of  you  will  put 
in  three  dollars  each  I  will  pay  you  all  when  pay-day 
comes.' 

"Then  we  questioned  him,  and  it  came  out  at 
last  that  Baxter  had  found  the  old  man  sick  a  few 
days  after  he  came  to  work,  and  of  his  $3.50  per  day 
had  spent  $3.00  in  food,  medicine  and  medical  atten 
dance  upon  the  man,  all  through  the  long  winter, 
and  had  moreover  often  watched  with  him  twelve 
hours  out  of  the  twenty-four.  It  was  not  a  child  that 
something  might  be  hoped  for ;  there  was  no  beautiful 
young  girl  about  the  place  to  be  in  love  with.  It  was 
simply  a  death  watch  over  a  worn-out  pauper.  I 
thought  then,  I  think  still,  it  was  as  fine  a  thing  as 
ever  I  saw.  ^ 

"  There  were  sixty  of  us  on  the  mine.  We  put  in 
ten  dollars  apiece,  went  to  Baxter  in  a  body,  and, 
begging  his  pardon,  asked  him  to  accept  it. 

"With  a  smile,  he  answered  :     '  I  thank  you,  but  I 

cannot  take  it.     I   have  wasted  much   money  in  my 

time.     Now  I  feel  as  though  I  had  a  little  on  interest, 

and  I  shall  get  along  first  rate.' 

.  "  Talk  about  royalty  !  our  Baxter  was  an  Emperor." 

"  He  did  have  something  on  interest,"  said  Brews- 
ter.  "Something  for  this  world  and  the  world  to 


come," 


H6  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  about  Jack  Marshall's  attempt 
to  pay  his  debts  by  clerking  in  a  store  ? "  asked  Savage. 
"Jack  brought  a  good  deal  of  coin  here  and  opened  a 
store.  He  did  first  rate  for  several  months,  and  after 
awhile  branched  out  into  a  larger  business,  which  re. 
quired  a  good  many  men.  When  everything  was 
promising  well  a  fire  came  and  swept  away  the  store 
and  a  flood  destroyed  the  other  property.  There  was 
just  enough  saved  out  of  the  wreck  to  pay  the  laborers. 

"  When  all  was  settled  up,  Jack  had  but  forty-three 
dollars  left  and  an  orphan  boy  to  take  care  of.  Just 
then  a  man  that  Jack  had  known  for  a  good  while  as 
a  miner,  came  into  town,  and  hearing  of  Jack's  mis 
fortunes,  hunted  him  up  and  told  him  that  he  had 
given  up  mining  and  settled  down  to  farming,  and 
begged  Jack  to  come  and  make  his  home  with  him 
until  he  had  time  to  think  over  what  was  best  to  do, 
He  further  said  that  he  had  twelve  acres  of  land 
cleared  and  under  fence,  with  ditches  all  dug  for  irri 
gating  the  crop  ;  that  he  had  a  yoke  of  oxen  to  plough 
the  land ;  that  his  intention  was  to  plant  the  whole 
twelve  acres  to  potatoes ;  that  a  fair  crop  would  yield 
him  sixty  tons,  which,  as  potatoes  then  were  four 
cents  a  pound,  would  bring  him  nearly  $5,000  for  the 
season.  But  he  explained  that  he  could  not  drive 
oxen,  and  more  than  that,  it  required  two  men  to  do 
the  work,  and  as  he  had  not  much  money  and  did  not 
want  to  run  in  debt,  his  business  in  town  was  to  find 
some  steady  man  who  could  drive  oxen,  who  would  go 
with  him  and  help  him  plant,  tend,  harvest  and  sell 
the  crop  on  shares.  The  ranch  was  down  on  Carson 
river,  not  far  from  Fort  Churchill. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  117 

"When  the  man  had  finished  his  story  Jack  said 
to  him  :  'How  would  I  do  for  a  steady  man  and  a 
bovine  manipulator?' 

" '  My  God,  Mr.  Marshall !  you  would  not  undertake 
to  drive  oxen  and  plant  potatoes,  would  you  ?'  said 
the  man. 

"  '  That's  just  what  I  would,'  said  Jack,  '  if  you 
think  you  can  endure  me  for  a  partner.  I  will  be 
come  a  horny-handed  tender  of  the  vine — the  potato 
vine.  What  say  you?' 

"  Well,  that  evening  both  men  started  for  the  farm. 
No  friend  of  Jack  knew  his  real  circumstances. 
They  knew  he  had  been  unfortunate,  but  did  notknow 
that  it  was  a  case  of  'total  wreck.'  He  bade  a  few 
of  them  good-bye,  with  the  careless  remark  that  he  was 
going-  for  a  few  days'  hunt  down  toward  the  Sink  of 
the  Carson. 

•'  Well,  he  ploughed  the  land,  the  two  men  planted 
the  crop  and  irrigated  it  until  the  potatoes  were 
splendidly  advanced  and  just  ready  to  blossom.  It 
got  to  be  the  last  of  June  and  the  promise  for  a 
plentiful  crop  was  encouraging.  They  had  worked 
steadily  since  the  middle  of  March.  But  just  then 
a  thief,  who  had  some  money,  made  a  false  affidavit, 
got  from  a  court  an  injunction  against  the  men  and 
shut  of  the  water.  It  was  just  at  the  critical  time 
when  the  life  of  the  crop  depended  upon  water.  In 
two  weeks  the  whole  crop  was  ruined.  In  the  mean 
time  for  seed  and  provisions,  clothes,  etc.,  a  debt  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  had  been  contracted  at 
the  store  of  a  Hebrew  named  Isaacs.  News  of  the 


US  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

injunction  reached  the  merchant,  and  one  morning 
he  put  in  an  appearance. 

" '  Meester  Marshall,  how's  dings  ?  '  asked  Isaacs. 

"  Pointing  to  the  blackened  and  withered  crop, 
Jack  answered  :  '  They  look  a  little  bilious,  don't  you 
think  so?' 

"  '  Mine  Gott  !  Mine  Gott !'  was  the  wailing  ex 
clamation.  Then,  after  a  pause,  '  Ven  does  you  sup 
pose  you  might  pay  me,  Meester  Marshall  ? ' 

" '  As  things  have  been  going  of  late,  I  think  in 
about  seven  years.  It  is  said  that  luck  changes  about 
every  seven  years.' 

"  '  Mine  Gott !  Meester  Marshal,'  cried  Isaacs  ; 
'  haven't  you  got  nodings  vot  you  can  pay  ?  I  vill 
discount  de  bill — say  ten  per  cent.' 

"  '  Nothing  that  I  can  think  of,  except  a  dog.  1 
have  a  dog  that  is  worth  two  hundred  dollars,  but  to 
you  I  will  discount  the  dog  twenty-five  per  cent.' 

"  'O,  mine  Gott !  vot  you  dinks  I  could  do  mit  a 
dog?"  said  the  despairing  merchant. 

"  '  Why  keep  him  for  his  society,  Mr.  Isaacs,'  was 
the  bantering  answer.  "  With  him  salary  is  not  so 
much  an  object  as  a  comfortable  and  respectable 
home.  There's  too  much  alkali  on  the  soil  to  en 
courage  fleas  to  remain,  so  there's  no  difficulty  on 
that  score  ;  and  he's  an  awfully  good  dog,  Isaacs  ;  no 
bad  habits,  and  the  most  regular  boarder  you  ever 
saw ;  he  has  never  been  late  to  a  meal  since  we  have 
been  here.  You  had  better  take  him ;  twenty-five 
per  cent,  is  an  immense  discount.' 

"  By  this  time  the  Hebrew  was  nearly  frantic. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  1  £9 

•"  Meester  Marshall/  he  said,  hesitatingly,  'did 
you  ever  clerk  in  a  store  ? ' 

"  '  Oh.  yes.' 

"  '  Vould  you  clerk  for  me  ?' 

" '  Yes  ;  that  is,  until  that  bill  shall  be  settled.' 

"  '  Ven  could  you  come  ?' 

"  '  Whenever  you  wish.' 

"'Vould  you  come  next  Monday — von  of  mine 
clerks,  Henery,  goes  avay  Monday?" 

"  '  Yes,  I  will  be  on  hand  Monday.  Let  us  see  ;  it 
is  seven  miles  to  walk.  I  will  be  there  about  nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning.' 

"  '  Veil,  I  danks  you,  Meester  Marshall ;  danks  you 
very  much.' 

" '  He  turned  away  and  rode  off  a  few  steps,  then 
stopped  and  called  back  :  '  Meester  Marshall,  if  you 
dinks  dot  de  society  of  de  dog  is  essential  to  your 
comfort,  bring  him.' 

"  '  Thanks,  Isaacs,'  cried  Jack,  cheerfully  ;  "consid 
ering  where  I  am  going  to  work,  and  the  company  I 
arm  going  to  keep,  it  will  not  be  necessary.' 

"Jack  went  as  he  had  promised.  Isaacs,  who  was 
a  thoroughly  good  man,  was  delighted  to  see  him, 
shook  hands  cordially,  and  then  suddenly,  with  a 
mysterious  look,  led  him  to  the  extreme  rear  end  of 
the  store,  and  when  there,  placing  his  lips  close  to 
Jack's  ear,  in  a  hoarse  whisper,  said  : 

"  '  Meester  Marshall,  de  vater  here  is bad  ;  it 

is  poison,  horrible.  You  drings  nodings  but  vine 
until  you  gets  used  to  de  vater.' 

"  Marshall  went  to  work  at  once.  It  was  in  1863. 
The  war  was  at  its  height,  and  Jack  was  intensely 


120  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

Union,  while  Isaacs,  his  employer,  was  a  furious  Dem 
ocrat.  Nothing  of  special  interest  transpired  for  a 
couple  of  weeks,  when  one  day  an  emigrant  woman, 
just  across  the  plains,  leading  two  little  children, 
came  into  the  store. 

"She  was  an  exceedingly  poor  woman,  evidently. 
All  her  clothes  were  not  worth  three  dollars,  while 
her  children  were  pitiful  looking  beyond  description. 

"Isaacs  was  in  the  front  of  the  store;  Jack  was 
putting  up  goods  in  the  rear,  but  in  hearing,  while 
another  clerk  was  in  the  warehouse  outside  of  the 
main  store.  Isaacs  went  to  wait  on  the  woman.  She 
picked  out  some  needed  articles  of  clothing  for  her 
children,  amounting  to  some  six  or  eight  dollars,  then 
unrolling  a  dilapidated  kerchief,  from  its  inner  folds 
drew  out  a  Confederate  twenty-dollar  note  and  ten 
dered  it  in  payment. 

"  Isaacs,  who  had  been  all  smiles,  drew  back  in 
horror,  exclaiming  :  '  I  cannot  take  dot ;  dot  is  not 
monish,  madam.' 

"  Jack  overheard  what  Isaacs  said  and  the  woman's 
reply,  as  follows  : 

"  '  It  is  all  I  have ;  it  is  all  the  money  we  have  had 
in  Arkansas  since  the  war  commenced.  Everybody 
takes  it  in  Arkansas.' 

"This  conversation  continued  for  two  or  three 
minutes,  and  the  woman  was  just  about  turning  away 
without  the  goods  when  Jack,  unable  longer  to  bear 
it,  stepped  forward  and  said  : 

"  '  Mr.  Isaac,  Mr.  Smith  would  like  to  see  you  in 
the  warehouse  ;  please  permit  me  to  wait  upon  the 
lady.' 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  121 

"  '  All  right/  said  Isaacs,  'only  (in  a  whisper)  re 
member  dot  ish  not  money.' 

"  Isaacs  passed  out  of  the  store  and  Jack  then 
said  :  '  If  you  please,  madam,  let  me  see  your  money.' 

''The  woman,  with  a  trembling  hand,  presented 
the  Confederate  note.  Jack  glanced  at  it  and  said  : 

"'Why,  this  is  first-class  money,  madam.  It  is 
just  a  prejudice  that  that  infernal  old  Abolitionist 
has.  I  will  discharge  him  to-night.  They  would 
hang  him  in  two  hours  in  Arkansas,  and  they  ought 
to  hang  him  here.  Buy  all  the  goods  you  want, 
madam.' 

"  With  eyes  full  of  gratitude  the  woman  increased 
the  bill,  until  it  amounted  to  eleven  dollars  and  a 
half.  Jack  tied  up  the  goods,  took  the  Confederate 
note,  handed  the  woman  a  five-dollar  gold  piece  and 
three  dollars  and  fifty  cents  in  silver,  and  she  went 
on  her  way  holding  the  precious  coin,  the  first  she 
had  seen  in  years,  closely  clasped  in  her  hand. 

"Jack  credited  goods  to  cash  twenty  dollars, 
charged  himself  to  cash  twenty  dollars,  and  went 
back  to  putting  up  goods,  humming  to  himself :  '  Half 
the  world  never  knows  how  the  other  half  lives.' 

"Jack's  salary  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a 
month.  He  owed  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  when 
he  went  to  work.  It  took  him  four  months  to  payoff 
his  indebtedness,  but  when  he  gave  up  his  place  he 
had  all  his  pockets  full  of  Confederate  money." 

As  the  story  was  finished,  Miller  said  :  "  A  real 
pleasant  but  characteristic  thing  happened  right  here 
in  this  city  when  Bishop  W first  came  here. 

"  He  wanted  to  establish  a  church,  and  his  first 


122  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

work  was  to  select  men  who  would  act  and  be  a  help 
to  him  as  trustees. 

'  It  is  nothing  to  get  trustees  for  a  mining  com 
pany  here,  but  a  church  is  a  different  thing.  In  a 
church,  you  know,  a  man  has  to  die  to  fill  his  shorts, 
and  then,  somehow,  in  these  late  years  men  have 
doubts  about  the  formation,  so  that  when  a  man 
starts  a  company  on  that  lead  any  more  he  finds  it 
mighty  hard  to  place  any  working  capital. 

"  At  the  time  I  was  speaking  of  it  was  just  about 
impossible  to  get  a  full  staff  of  trustees  that  would 
exactly  answer  the  orthodox  requirements.  But  the 
Bishop  is  a  man  of  expedients.  It  was  sinners  that 
he  came  to  call  to  repentance,  and  it  did  not  take  him 
long  to  discover  that  right  here  was  a  big  field.  He 
went  to  work  at  once  with  an  energy  that  has  never 
abated  for  a  moment  since.  He  selected  all  his  trus 
tees  but  one,  and  looking  around  for  him,  with  a  clear 

instinct  he  determined  that  Abe   E should  be 

that  one  if  he  would  accept  the  place. 

"Now,  Abe  was  the  best  and  truest  of  men,  but  he 
would  swear  sometimes.  Indeed,  when  he  got  started 
on  that  stratum  he  was  a  holy  terror.  But  the  Bishop 
put  him  down  as  a  trustee,  and,  meeting  Abe  on  the 
street,  informed  him  that  he  was  trying  to  organize  a 
church  ;  had  taken  the  liberty  to  name  him  as  a  trus 
tee,  and  asked  Abe  to  do  him  the  honor  of  attending 
a  trustees'  meeting  at  one  o'clock  the  next  afternoon. 

'"  I  would  be  glad  to  help  you,  Bishop,'  said  Abe, 

'  but it I  don't  know.     I  can  run  a  mine  or 

a   quartz   mill,  but  I  don't  know   any  more  than   a 
Chinaman  about  running  a  church.' 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  123 

"  But  the  Bishop  pleaded  his  case  so  ably  that  Abe 
at  length  surrendered,  promised  to  attend  the  meet 
ing,  and,  having  promised,  like  the  sterling  business 
man  that  he  was,  promptly  put  in  an  appearance. 

"  Besides  Abe  and  the  Bishop,  there  were  six  others. 
When  all  had  assembled,  the  Bishop  explained  that 
he  desired  to  build  a  church  ;  that  he  had  plans, 
specifications  and  estimates  for  a  church  to  cost 
$9,000,  with  lot  included;  that  he  believed  $1,500 
might  be  raised  by  subscription,  leaving  the  church 
but  $7,500  in  debt,  which  amount  would  run  at  low 
interest  and  which  in  a  growing  place  like  Virginia 
City  the  Bishop  thought  might  be  paid  up  in  four  or 
five  years,  leaving  the  church  free.  He  closed  by 
asking  the  sense  of  the  trustees  as  to  the  wisdom  and 
practicability  of  making  the  attempt. 

"There  was  a  general  approval  of  the  plan 
expressed  by  all  present  except  Abe,  who  was  silent 
until  his  opinion  was  directly  asked  by  the  Bishop. 

"  '  Why, it,  Bishop,'  said  he,  '  I  told  you  that 

I  knew  nothing  about  the  church  business,  but  I  don't 
like  the  plan.  If  you  were  to  get  money  at  fifteen 
per  cent  per  annum,  which  is  only  half  the  regular 
banking  rate,  your  interest  would  amount  to  nearly 
$1,200  a  year,  or  almost  as  much  as  you  hope  to  raise 
for  a  commencement.  I  am  afraid,  Bishop,  you 
would  never  live  long  enough  to  get  out  of  debt.  You 

want  a  church,  and it,  why  don't  you  work  the 

business  as  though  you  believed  it  would  pay  ?  That 
is  the  only  way  you  can  get  up  any  confidence  in  the 
scheme.' 


124  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  Abe  sat  down  and  the  Bishop's  heart  sank  with 
him. 

"  With  a  smile,  one  of  the  other  gentlemen  asked 
Abe  what  his  plan  for  getting  a  church  would  be. 

"  '  I  will  tell  you,'  said  Abe.  '  I  move  that  an 
assessment  of  one  thousand  dollars  be  levied  upon 
each  of  the  trustees,  payable  immediately.' 

"  It  was  a  startling  proposition  to  the  Bishop,  who 
was  just  from  the  East  and  who  had  not  become 
accustomed  to  Comstock  ways.  With  a  faltering 
voice  he  said  : 

"  '  Mr.  E—  — ,  I  fear  that  I  cannot  at  present  raise 
$  i  ,000. ' 

"'Never  mind,  Bishop,'  said  Abe,  'we  will  take 
yours  out  in  preaching ;  bufr  there  is  no  rebate  for 
any  of  the  rest  of  you.  If  you  are  going  to  serve  the 
Lord,  you  have  got  to  be  respectable  about  it.  Your 
checks,  if  you  please,  gentlemen.' 

"  All  were  wealthy  men,  the  checks  were  laughingly 
furnished,  with  joking  remarks  that  it  was  the  first 
company  ever  formed  in  Virginia  City  where  the 
officers  really  invested  any  money. 

"  Abe  took  the  checks,  added  his  own  to  the  num 
ber,  begged  the  Bishop  to  excuse  him,  remarking  as 
he  went  out  that  while  he  had  every  faith  in  the 
others,  still  he  was  anxious  to  reach  the  bank  a  little 
in  advance  of  them,  and  started  up  town. 

"  He  met  this  man  and  that,  and  demanded  of  each 
a  check  for  from  $50  to  $250,  as  he  thought  they 
could  respectively  afford  to  pay. 

"When  asked  how  long  he  would  want  the  money 
his  reply  was  :  '  I  want  it  for  keeps, it.  I  am 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  125 

building  a  church.'  In  forty  minutes  he  had  the  whole 
sum.  He  took  the  checks  to  the  bank  and  for  them 
received  a  certificate  of  deposit  in  the  Bishop's  name. 
Carrying  this  to  the  Bishop's  house  he  rang  the  bell. 

"  The  Bishop  had  seen  his  coming  and  answered 
the  summons  in  person.  Handing  him  the  certificate, 
Abe  said  : 

"  '  Take  that  for  a  starter,  Bishop.  It  won't  be 
enough,  for  a  church  is  like  an  old  quartz  mill.  The 
cost  always  exceeds  the  estimates  a  good  deal,  but  go 
ahead,  and  when  you  need  more  money  we  will  levy 
another  assessment  on  the  infernal  sinners.' ' 

Strong,  who  had  been  listening  attentively,  said : 
"  I  heard  the  Bishop  preach  and  pray  over  Abe's  dead 
body  three  years  ago,  and  watched  him  as  he  took  a 
last,  long  look  at  Abe's  still,  clear-cut,  splendid  face  as 
it  was  composed  in  death.  Abe  never  joined  the 
church,  and  I  am  told  that  he  swore  a  little  to  the 
last.  His  part  in  building  the  church  was  simply  one 
of  his  whims,  but  for  years  he  was  a  Providence  here 
to  scores  of  people.  No  one  knew  half  his  acts  of 
bountiful,  delicate  charity,  or  in  how  many  homes 
bitter  tears  were  shed  when  he  died. 

"But the  Bishop  knew  enough  to  know  and  feel  as 
he  was  praying  over  the  remains,  that  while  it  was 
well  as  a  matter  of  form,  it  was  quite  unnecessary  ; 
that,  so  far  as  Abe  was  concerned,  he  was  safe  ;  that 
in  the  Beyond  where  the  mansions  are  and  where  the 
lio-ht  is  born;  where,  over  all,  are  forever  stretched 

o 

out  the  brooding  wings  of  celestial  peace,  Abe  had 
been  received,  and  that,  upon  his  coming,  while  the 
welcomes  were  sounding  and  the  greetings  were  being 


126  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

made  to  him,  flowers  burst  through  the  golden  floor 
and  blossomed  at  his  feet. 

"Among  the  royal  ones  of  the  earth,  the  soul  of 
Abe  E bore  the  scepter  of  perfect  sovereignty." 

"  I  knew  him,"  said  Corrigan.  "  May  his  soul  rest 
in  peace,  for  he  was  a  noble  man." 

"  I  knew  him,"  interposed  Carlin.  No  words  give 
an  idea  of  how  sterling  and  true  a  man  he  was." 

"  I  knew  him,"  added  Wright.  "  When  he  died 
Virginia  City  did  not  realize  the  loss  which  his  death 
entailed." 

"  I  knew  him,"  concluded  Strong.  "  His  heart  was 
a  banyan  tree,  its  limbs  were  perpetually  bending 
down  and  taking  root,  till  it  made  shade  for  the  poor 
of  the  city." 

Then  Carlin,  opening  the  door  to  the  kitchen, 
called  Yap  Sing  to  bring  glasses.  A  night-cap  toddy 
was  made,  and  as  it  was  drunk  the  good  nights  were 
spoken. 


CHAPTER  X. 

With  the  lighting  of  the  pipes  the  next  night 
Miller  said  : 

"  All  your  royal  people  so  far,  though  not  perfect 
men,  have  had  redeeming  traits.  I  once  knew  one 
who  had  not  a  single  characteristic,  except,  perhaps, 
some  pluck.  My  man  was  simply  a  royal  liar.  In 
Western  parlance,  'he  was  a  boss.'  His  name  was 
Colonel  Jensen. 

"  Now,  in  my  judgment,  lying  is  the  very  grossest 
of  human  evils.  A  common  liar  is  a  perpetual  proof 
of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  original  sin.  By  that 
vice  more  friendships  are  broken  and  more  real 
misery  is  perpetrated  and  perpetuated  in  the  world 
than  comes  through  any  other  channel. 

"  But  as  genius  excites  admiration  even  when  ex 
erted  for  sinister  purposes,  so  when  the  art  of  lying 
is  reduced  to  an  absolute  science  there  is  something 
almost  fine  about  it. 

"  My  liar,  when  I  first  knew  him,  seemed  to  be 
between  fifty  and  sixty  years  of  age  ;  but  no  one  ever 
knew  what  his  real  age  was. 

"  But  he  was  quite  an  old  man,  for  his  hair  was 
perfectly  white,  and  that,  with  a  singularly  striking 
face  and  fine  faculty  of  expressing  his  ideas,  gave  him 
an  appearance  at  once  venerable  and  engaging.  It 
was  hard  to  look  into  his  almost  classical  face  and  to 

127 


128  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

think  that  if  he  had  told  the  truth  within  twenty 
years,  it  must  have  been  an  accident ;  but  such  was 
the  fact,  nevertheless. 

"  He  was  indeed  a  colossal  prevaricator.  He  was  at 
home,  too,  on  every  theme,  and  there  was  the  charm 
of  freshness  to  every  new  falsehood,  for  he  spoke 
as  one  who  was  on  the  spot — an  actor.  If  it  was  an 
event  that  he  was  describing,  he  was  a  participant ;  if 
a  landscape  or  a  structure,  it  was  from  actual  obser 
vation  ;  if  it  chanced  to  be  a  scientific  theme,  he 
invariably  reported  the  words  of  some  great  scientist 
'just  as  they  fell  from  his  lips.' 

"  He  knew  and  had  dined  with  all  the  great  men 
of  his  generation — that  is,  he  said  so.  He  always 
spoke  with  particularly  affectionate  remembrance  of 
Henry  Clay  and  Daniel  Webster,  always  referring  to 
them  as  '  Hank'  and  '  Dan  '  so  intimate  had  he  been 
with  them. 

"  My  introduction  to  him  was  on  a  stormy  winter 
night,  in  the  early  years  of  the  Washoe  excitement. 
A  few  of  us  were  conversing  in  a  hotel.  One  gentle 
man  was  describing  something  that  he  had  witnessed 
in  his  boyhood,  in  Columbus,  Ohio. 

"  As  he  finished  his  story,  a  venerable  gentleman, 
who  was  a  stranger  in  Washoe,  and  who  had,  for  sev 
eral  minutes,  been  slowly  pacing  up  and  down 
the  room,  suddenly  stopped  and  inquired  of  the  gen 
tleman  who  had  been  talking  if  he  was  from  Colum 
bus.  When  answered  in  the  affirmative,  the  stranger 
extended  his  hand,  dropped  into  a  convenient  seat  as 
he  spoke,  and  expressed  his  pleasure  at  meeting  a 
gentleman  from  Columbus,  at  the  same  time  introduc- 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  I  29 

ing  himself  as  Colonel  Jensen  and  remarking  that 
one  of  the  happiest  recollections  of  his  life  was  of  a 
day  in  Columbus,  on  which  day  all  his  prospects  in 
life  were  changed  and  wonderfully  brightened. 

"  With  such  an  exordium,  the  rest  could  do  no  less 
than  to  press  the  old  gentleman  to  favor  the  company 
with  a  rehearsal  of  what  had  transpired. 

"  The  story  was  as  follows  : 

"  '  I  had  just  returned  with  the  remnant  of  my  reg 
iment  from  Mexico,  and  had  received  the  unanimous 
thanks  of  the  Legislature  of  Ohio  for — so  the  resolu 
tion  was  worded — "the  magnificent  ability  and  stead 
fast  and  desperate  courage  displayed  by  Colonel  Jen 
sen  for  twelve  consectutive  hours  on  the  field  of  Buena 
Vista."  I  was  young  at  the  time  and  had  not  got 
over  caring  for  such  things.  The  day  after  this  res 
olution  of  thanks  was  passed,  the  Governor  of  the 
State  ordered  a  grand  review,  at  the  capital,  of  the 
militia  of  the  State  in  honor  of  the  soldiers  who  had 
survived  the  war.  As  a  mark  of  especial  honor  I  was 
appointed  Adjutant-General  on  the  Governor's  staff. 
My  place  at  the  review  was  beside  the  Governor — 
who  was,  of  course.  Commander-in-chief — except 
when  my  particular  regiment  was  passing. 

"  '  There  are  a  few  things  which  I  have  never  out 
grown  a  weakness  for.  One  is  a  real  Kentucky  blood 
horse.  I  had  sent  to  Kentucky  and  paid  four  thous 
and  dollars  for  the  son  of  Gray  Eagle.  I  bought 
him  cheap,  too,  because  of  his  color.  He  was  a  dap 
ple-gray.  The  Boston  stock  of  horses  was  just  then 
becoming  the  rage,  and  gray  was  beginning  to  be  an 
off-color  for  thoroughbreds.  My  horse  was  a  real 


130 


THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 


beauty.  He  had  been  trained  on  the  track,  and  from 
a  dead  stand  would  spring  twenty-two  feet  the  first 
bound.  But  he  was  thoroughly  broken  and  tract 
able,  though  he  had  more  style  than  a  peacock,  and 
when  prancing  and  careering,  though  not  pulling  five 
pounds  on  the  bit,  he  looked  as  though  in  a  moment 
he  would  imitate  Elijah's  chariot  and  take  to  the 
clouds. 

"  '  As  the  hour  for  the  review  approached,  I 
mounted  my  horse  and  took  my  position,  as  assigned, 
beside  the  Governor. 

"  '  I  was  quietly  conversing  with  him  and  with  our 
Brigadier-General,  when  a  runaway  team,  attached 
to  an  open  carnage  in  which  were  two  ladies,  dashed 
past  us. 

"  What  folowed  was  instinct.  I  gave  Gray  Eagle 
both  rein  and  spur.  In  a  few  seconds  he  was  beside 
the  running  horses.  I  sprang  from  his  back  upon 
the  back  of  the  near  carriage  horse,  gathered  the 
inside  reins  of  the  team,  drew  the  heads  of  the  two 
horses  together  and  brought  them  to  a  standstill  only 
a  few  feet  from  the  bluffs,  which  anyone  from  that 
city  can  remember,  and  over  which  the  team  would 
have  dashed  in  a  moment  more. 

" '  People  gathered  around  instantly,  took  the 
horses  in  hand  and  helped  the  ladies  from  the  vehicle. 
Being  relieved,  I  caught  and  remounted  my  horse, 
took  my  place,  and  the  review  proceeded. 

"  '  After  the  review,  I  received  a  note  from  the 
Governor  asking  me  to  dine  with  him  that  evening. 

'  I  accepted,  supposing  the  invitation   was  due  to 
my  Mexican  record.     Judge  my  surprise  then,  when, 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  13! 

on  going  to  the  Governor's  mansion,  I  was  shown 
into  the  parlor,  and,  on  being  presented  to  the  Gov 
ernor's  wife  and  her  beautiful  unmarried  sister,  in  a 
moment  found  myself  being  overwhelmed  by  the 
grateful  thanks  of  the  two  ladies,  learning  for  the  first 
time,  from  their  lips,  that  they  were  the  ladies  I  had 
rescued. 

"  '  Of  course,  after  that,  I  was  a  frequent  visitor  at 
the  house,  and  in  a  few  months  the  young  lady 
became  my  wife.' 

"  His  story  was  told  with  an  air  of  such  modest 
candor,  and  at  the  same  time  with  such  dramatic  effect, 
that  what  might  have  seemed  improbable  or  singu 
lar  about  it,  had  it  been  differently  related,  was  not 
thought  of  at  the  time.  The  old  man  was  a  real  hero 
for  a  brief  moment  at  least. 

"  When,  later,  we  knew  the  Colonel  had  never  been 
in  the  Mexican  war  or  any  other  war  ;  that  he  had 
never  been  married  ;  that  if  he  had  ever  witnessed  a 
military  review  it  was  from  a  perch  on  a  fence  or 
tree  ;  that  he  had  never  possessed  four  thousand  or 
four  hundred  dollars  with  which  to  buy  a  horse,  and 
that  his  oldest  acquaintances  did  not  believe  he  had 
ever  been  on  a  horse's  back,  still,  while  the  admira- 
ation  for  the  man  was  somewhat  chilled,  there  was  no 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  main  fact,  which  was 
that  as  a  gigantic  and  dramatic  liar,  on  merit,  he  was 
entitled  to  the  post  of  honor  on  a  day  when  the  Ana- 
niases  of  all  the  world  were  passing  in  review. 

"  Old  and  middle-aged  men  in  the  West  will  re 
member  the  delightful  letters  which  Lieutenant 
B ,  under  the  nom  de plume  of  '  Ching  Foo,"  used 


132  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB 

to  write  to  the  Sacramento  Union.  Once  in  the 
presence  of  Colonel  Jensen  these  letters  were  re 
ferred  to  as  masterpieces.  The  Colonel  smiled  sig 
nificantly  and  said  : 

"  '  They  were  delicious  letters,  truly.  Take  him  all 
in  all,  Ching  Foo  was  the  most  intelligent  Chinaman 
I  ever  saw.  He  cooked  for  me  three  years  in  Cali 
fornia.  I  taught  him  reading  and  writing.  I  reckon 
he  would  have  been  with  me  still,  but  the  early  floods 
in  '54  washed  out  my  bed-rock  flume  in  American 
river  and  I  had  to  break  up  my  establishment.  I  had 
a  ton  of  gold  in  sight  in  the  river  bed,  but  next  morn 
ing  the  works  were  all  gone  and  with  them  $125,000 
which  I  had  used  in  turning  the  river.' 

"  One  day  an  Ohio  man  and  a  Tennessee  man  en 
gaged  in  a  warm  dispute  over  the  relative  excellences 
of  the  respective  State  Houses  in  Ohio  and  Tennessee. 
Finally  they  appealed  to  Colonel  Jensen  for  an  opin 
ion.  The  Colonel,  with  his  sovereign  air,  said  to  the 
Ohio  man  : 

'"You  are  wrong,  Tom.  I  hai  just  completed  the 
State  House  at  Columbus,  when  I  was  sent  for  to  go 
and  make  the  plans  and  superintend  the  construction 
of  the  State  House  at  Nashville.  It  would  have  been 
strange  if  I  had  not  made  a  great  many  improve 
ments  over  the  Ohio  structure,  in  preparing  plans  for 
the  one  to  be  erected  in  Tennessee. 

" '  The  Colonel  was  a  bungling  carpenter  by  trade, 
and  never  built  anything  more  complicated  or  impos 
ing  than  a  miner's  cabin. 

"  One  more  anecdote  and  I  will  positively  stop. 
Two  neighbors  had  a  lawsuit  in  Washoe  City.  One 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  133 

was  an  honest  man,  the  other  a  scoundrel.  As  is  the 
rule  in  Nevada,  both  the  plaintiff  and  the  defendant 
testified.  The  defendant  denied  point  blank  the  tes 
timony  of  the  plaintiff.  It  was  plain  that  one  or  the 
other  had  committed  terrible  perjury.  Some  other 
witnesses  were  called,  the  case  was  closed  and  the 
jury  retired  to  consider  a  verdict.  But  how  to  decide 
was  the  question.  Which  was  the  honest  man  and 
which  the  scoundrel? 

"  At  last  one  juror  hit  upon  a  happy  thought.  He 
said  : 

"'Gentlemen,  did  you  notice  closely  the  last  wit 
ness  for  the  defendant?  His  hair  was  white  as  snow, 
his  body  bent,  his  steps  were  feeble  and  tottering. 
That  man  has  already  one  foot  in  the  grave;  he  will 
not  survive  another  month.  Surely  a  man  in  his  con 
dition  would  tell  the  truth.'  The  argument  seemed 
logical  and  the  reasoning  sound.  The  verdict  was 
unanimous  for  the  defendant. 

"  No  case  ever  showed  clearer  the  '  infallibility  '  of 
a  jury.  The  witness  was  Colonel  Jenson.  The  de 
fendant  was  the  perjurer,  and  all  the  Colonel  knew 
of  the  case  was  what  the  defendant  had,  that  morn 
ing,  out  behind  a  hay  corral,  drilled  him  to  know  and 
to  swear  to,  for  a  five-dollar  piece. 

"The  Colonel  has  gone  now  to  join  his  ancestors 
on  the  other  side.  In  the  old  orthodox  days  there 
would  not  have  been  the  slightest  doubt  as  to  who  his 
original  ancester  was,  or  of  the  temperature  of  his 
present  quarters  ;  but  who  knows  ? 

"  I  only  know  that,  while  upon  the  earth,  he  was 
one  of  the  few  men  whom  I  have  known  that  I  be- 


134  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

lieved  was  a  native  genius  ;  a  very  Shakespeare  (or 
Bacon)  in  language  ;  a  Michael  Angelo  in  coloring  ;  a 
colossal,  all-embracing,  magnificent,  measureless  liar." 

"  He  was  a  good  one,  sure,"  said  Carlin. 

"  He  was  a  bad  one,  sure,  remarked  Ashley." 

Then  Brewster,  taking  up  the  theme,  said  ;  "  He 
had  a  chronic  disease,  that  was  all.  He  was  as  much 
of  an  inebriate  in  his  way  as  ever  was  drunkard  a 
slave  to  alcohol.  He  had  great  vanity  and  self-esteem 
and  a  flowery  imagination.  These  were  chastened  or 
disciplined  by  no  moral  attributes.  He  could  no  more 
help  being  what  he  was  than  can  the  raven  avoid 
being  black." 

"  There  was  bad  stock  in  the  mon,"  said  Corrigan. 
"He  should  have  been  strangled  in  his  cradle ;  for 
sich  a  mon  is  forever  makin'  bitterness  in  a  neighbor 
hood,  and  is  not  fit  to  live." 

"  Boys,"  asked  the  Colonel,  "  do  you  believe  that 
lying  is  ever  justifiable  ?  " 

Brewster,  Harding  and  Ashley  simultaneously 
answered  "  No." 

"  It  depends,"  said  Carlin. 

"  Hardly  iver,"  said  Corrigan. 

Miller  thought  it  might  be  necessary. 

"  For  one's  self,  no  ;  for  another,  perhaps  yes,"  said 
the  Professor. 

"That  is  just  the  point,"  remarked  the  Colonel. 
"  Let  me  tell  you  about  a  case  which  transpired  right 
here  in  this  city.  There  were  two  men  whose  first 
names  were  the  same,  while  their  surnames  were 
similar.  Their  given  names  were  Frank  and  their 
surnames  were,  we  will  say,  Cady  and  Carey,  respect- 


THE    COM  STOCK    CLU1J.  135 

ively.  Cady  was  a  young  married  man.  He  had  a 
beautiful  wife,  a  lovely  little  girl  three  years  of 
age  and  a  baby  boy  a  year  old  at  the  time  I  am 
speaking  of.  Carey  was  five  or  six  years  younger  and 
single.  They  were  great  friends,  notwithstanding 
that  Cady  was  pretty  fast  while  Carey  was  as  pure- 
hearted  a  young  man  as  ever  came  here.  More,  he 
was  devotedly  attached  to  a  young  lady  who  was  a 
close  friend  of  the  wife  of  Cady.  The  young  couple 
were  expecting  to  be  married  in  a  few  weeks  at  the 
time  the  incident  happened  which  I  am  going  to  relate. 

"Cady  was  wealthy,  while  Carey  was  poor  and  a 
clerk  in  a  mercantile  establishment.  One  day  Cady 
said  to  his  friend  :  '  Carey  I  bought  some  Con.  Vir 
ginia  stock  to-day  at  $55.  I  have  set  aside  eighty 
shares  for  you.  Some  people  think  it  is  going  to 
advance  before  long.  If  it  does  and  there  is  any 
thing  made  on  the  eighty  shares  it  shall  be  yours.' 
Sixty  days  later  the  stock  struck  $463,  when  it  was 
sold  and  the  bank  notified  Carey  that  there  was  a 
deposit  of  $32,003  to  his  credit.  When  this  stroke 
of  good  fortune  came,  the  youth  hastened  to  tell  the 
good  news  to  the  girl  of  his  heart,  and  before  they 
separated  their  troth  was  plighted  and  the  marriage 
day  fixed. 

"  During  this  delicious  period,  one  morning  Carey 
stepped  into  the  outer  office  of  Cady  and  was  horri 
fied  to  hear  from  behind  the  glass  screen  which  sepa 
rated  the  inner  office  from  the  main  office  the  wife  of 
Cady  upbraiding  her  husband  in  a  most  violent  man 
ner.  Her  back  was  to  the  front  of  the  building. 
She  was  holding  a  letter  in  her  hand,  and  as  Carey 


36  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 


entered  the  building  she  began  and  read  the  letter 
through,  and  wound  up  by  crying  :  '  Who  is  this 
Marie  who  is  writing  to  you  and  directing  the  letters 
simply  to  Frank,  Postoffice  box  409  ?  You  are 
keeping  a  private  box,  are  you  ?  But  you  are  too 
careless  by  half  ;  you  left  this  letter  in  your  overcoat 
pocket,  and  when  I  went  to  sew  a  button  on  the  coat 
this  morning  it  fell  out,  so  I  could  not  help  but  see 
it.' 

"Just  then  Cady  looked  up  and  saw  Carey  through 
the  glass  partition.  The  latter  with  a  swift  motion 
touched  a  finger  to  his  lips  and  shook  his  head,  which 
in  perfect  pantomime  said :  '  Don't  give  yourself 
away,'  then  in  a  flash  slipped  noiselessly  from  the 
building. 

"  Once  outside,  he  hastily,  on  a  leaf  of  his  memo 
randum  book,  wrote  to  the  postmaster  that  if  he 
called  with  a  lady  and  asked  what  his  postoffice  box 
was  to  answer  409  ;  to  at  once  take  out  anything  that 
might  be  in  the  box,  and  if  he  had  time  to  seal  and 
stamp  an  envelope,  direct  it  to  him  and  put  it  in  409, 
and  he  added  :  '  Don't  delay  a  moment.' 

"  Calling  a  bootblack  who  was  standing  near,  he 
gave  him  the  note  and  a  silver  dollar,  bade  him  run 
with  the  letter  to  the  postoffice  and  to  be  sure  to  de 
liver  the  note  only  to  some  of  the  responsible  men 
there,  to  the  postmaster  himself  if  possible. 

"Then,  with  a  good  deal  of  noise,  he  rushed  into 
his  friend's  place  of  business  again. 

"  As  he  entered  he  heard  his  friend's  wife,  through 
her  sobs,  saying  :  '  Oh,  Frank  !  I  should  have  thought 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  137 

that  respect  for  our  children  would  have  prevented 
this,  even  if  you  have  no  more  love  for  me.' 

"  Carey  dashed  through  the  sash  door,  seemed 
taken  all  aback  at  seeing  Cady's  wife  in  the  office.  In 
great  apparent  confusion  he  advanced  and  said  :  'Ex 
cuse  me,  Cady,  but  I  am  in  a  little  trouble  this  morn 
ing.  I  was  expecting  a  letter  last  night  directed  sim 
ply  to  my  first  name  and  my  postoffice  box.  It  has 
not  come,  and  as  you  and  myself  have  the  same  first 
name,  I  did  not  know  but  the  mistake  might  have 
been  made  at  the  postoffice.'  He  was  apparently 
greatly  agitated  and  unstrung,  and  seemed  particu 
larly  anxious  about  the  letter. 

"  Cady  replied:  '  With  my  mail  last  night  a  letter 
came  directed  as  you  say.  I  opened  and  glanced 
over  it,  thought  it  was  some  joke,  put  it  in  my 
pocket  and  thought  no  more  about  it  until  my 
wife  brought  it  in  this  morning.  Somehow  she  does 
not  seem  satisfied  at  my  explanation.' 

"At  this  the  lady  sprang  up,  and,  confronting  the 
young  man,  said  :  '  Frank  Carey,  what  is  the  number 
of  your  box  in  the  postoffice  ?' 

"  With  steady  eyes  and  voice   he  answered,   '409.' 

The  woman  was  dumfounded  for  a  moment,  but  she 
quickly  rallied. 

"  '  Come  with  me,'  she  said.  The  young  man  obeyed. 
She  took  her  way  directly  to  the  postoffice.  Arriving, 
she  tapped  at  the  delivery  window  and  asked  if  she 
could  see  the  postmaster  in  person.  The  boy  delivered 
the  message  and  in  a  moment  the  door  opened  and 
the  pair  were  ushered  into  the  private  office  of  the 
postmaster.  Hardly  were  they  seated  when  the  lady 


I  -;8  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB, 

\J 

said  abruptly  :  '  We  have  come,  Judge,  on  a  serious 
business.  Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  tell  me  the 
number  of  this  gentleman's  postoffice  box  ? ' 

"  The  postmaster  looked  inquiringly  at  Carey,  who 
nodded  assent.  Then  in  response  to  the  lady,  he  re 
plied  :  '  I  do  not  exactly  remember.  I  will  have  to 
look  at  the  books.' 

"  He  passed  into  the  main  office,  but  returned  in  a 
moment  with  a  petty  ledger  containing  an  alphabet 
ical  index.  He  opened  at  the  '  C's '  and  read:  '  Frank 
Carey,  box  409  ;  paid  for  one  quarter  from  January 

.'      Continuing,    he   said  :     '  I    remember   now, 

Frank,  you  hired  the  box  about  the  time  you  realized 
on  Con.  Virginia,  and  the  quarter  has  about  a  month 
more  to  run.' 

"  This  he  said  with  an  imperturbable  and  inscru 
table  face,  and  with  an  air  of  mingled  candor  and 
business  which  it  was  charming  to  behold. 

"  The  lady  was  nearly  paralyzed,  but  she  made  one 
more  effort. 

"  There  can  be  no  possible  mistake  in  what  you 
have  told  me,  Judge?'  she  asked. 

"'  I  think  not  the  least  in  the  world,'  was  the  re 
ply,  and,  rising,  he  continued  :  '  Please  step  this  way.' 
He  led  the  way  to  the  boxes,  and  there  over  409  was 
the  name  of  Frank  Carey.  More,  there  was  a  sprinkle 
of  dust  over  it,  showing  that  it  had  been  there  for 
some  time. 

'"By  the  way,'  said  the  postmaster,  '  you  have  a 
letter,  Frank.  It  must  be  a  drop  letter  as  no  mail 
has  been  received  this  morning.'  He  took  the  letter 
from  the  box  in  a  manner  so  awkward  that  the  lady 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  139 

could  not  help  seeing  that  it  had  evidently  been  di 
rected  in  a  disguised  female  hand,  and  that  the  super 
scription  was  simply  '  Frank,  P.  O.  Box  409.' 

"Arrived  again  in  the  private  office,  the  lady  said 
to  the  young  man,  in  a  latitude-78-degree-north  tone, 
'  I  see,  sir,  you  have  a  very  extensive,  and  I  have  no 
doubt,  very  select  correspondence.' 

"At  the  same  time  she  caught  up  her  skirts — the 
ladies  wore  long  skirts  that  year — and,  with  a  '  I  thank 
you,  Judge ;  good  morning,'  started  toward  the  door. 
As  she  passed  Carey  she  drew  close  to  the  wall,  as 
though  for  her  robes  to  touch  the  hem  of  his  garments 
would  be  contamination,  and  passed  haughtily  into 
the  street. 

"  When  she  had  disappeared  Carey  sank  into  a 
chair  and  drew  a  long  breath  of  relief,  while  the 
grave  face  of  the  ancient  '  Nasby '  unlimbered  and 
warmed  into  a  smile  which  shone  like  virtue's  own 
reward . 

"  '  Lord  !  Lord!'  he  said,  'but  it  was  a  close  shave. 
I  had  just  got  things  fixed  when  you  came.  And  was 
not  she  mad,  though  ?  She  looked  like  the  prospectus 
of  a  cyclone.  But  tell  me,  Carey,  am  I  not  rather  an 
impressive  liar,  when,  in  the  best  interests  of  domes 
tic  peace,  my  duty  leads  me  into  that  channel  ?' 

"  Frank  answered,  '  As  Mark  Twain  told  those 
wild  friends  of  his  who  perpetrated  the  bogus  rob 
bery  upon  him,  "You  did  a  marvelous  sight  too  well 
for  a  mere  amateur."  But  now,  Judge,  mum  is  the 
word  about  this  business.' 

"  '  Mum  is  the  word/  was  the  reply. 


140  THE    CoMbTOCK   CLUB. 

"  That  evening  Carey  called  at  the  home  of  his 
betrothed.  A  servant  showed  him  into  the  parlor, 
but  for  the  first  time  the  young  lady  did  not  put  in 
an  appearance.  In  her  stead  her  mother  came.  The 
elder  lady,  without  sitting,  in  a  severe  tone  said  : 
'  Mr.  Carey,  my  daughter  has  heard  something  to-day 
from  Mrs.  Cady.  Until  you  explain  that  matter  to 
my  satisfaction  my  daughter  will  beg  to  decline  to 
see  you.' 

"  Carey  replied  :  '  bince  your  daughter  has  heard 
of  the  matter,  it  does  concern  her,  and  I  shall  very 
gladly  explain  to  her  ;  but  I  cannot  to  anyone  else, 
not  even  to  you.' 

"  '  You  could  easily  impose  upon  a  silly  girl  who  is 
in  love,  but  I  am  no  silly  girl,  and  am  not  in  love, 
especially  not  with  j0#,  and  you  will  have  to  explain 
to  me?  said  the  lady. 

" '  My  dear  madam,'  said  Carey,  mildly,  '  in  one 
sense  there  is  nothing  in  all  that  gossip.  In  another 
sense  so  much  is  involved  that  I  would  not  under  the 
rack  whisper  a  word  of  it  to  any  soul  on  earth  save  to 
her  who  has  promised  to  give  her  happiness  into  my 
keeping.  When  your  daughter  becomes  my  wife 
your  authority  as  mother  in  our  home  shall  never  be 
questioned  by  me.  Until  then  my  business  is  not 
with  you.' 

"  '  It  is  not  worth  while  to  prolong  this  discussion,' 
said  the  old  lady,  excitedly.  '  If  you  have  nothing 
more  to  say,  I  will  bid  you  good  evening.' 

"  '  Good  evening,  madam,'  said  Carey,  -and  went 
out  into  the  night. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"A  year  later  the  young  lady  married  the  wildest 
rake  on  the  Comstock,  but  Carey  never  married,  and 
died  last  year. 

"  When  Cady  saw  how  things  were  going,  he  went 
to  Carey  and  said  :  '  Carey,  let  me  go  and  explain  to 
those  ladies.  It  kills  me  to  see  you  as  you  are.' 

"'  It  will  never  do,' was  the  reply.  'They  would 
not  keep  the  secret,  especially  the  elder  one  never 
would.  It  would  kill  her  not  to  get  even  with  your 
wife.  It  worried  me  a  little  at  first,  for  I  feared  that 

might  grieve  some  and  be  disappointed  ;  but 

she  is  all  right.  I  watched  her  covertly  at  the  play 
last  night.  She  will  forget  me  in  a  month.  She  will 
be  married  within  the  year.  We  will  take  no  chance 
of  having  your  home  made  unhappy.  Dear  friend,  it 
is  all  just  as  I  would  have  it." 

"  It  was  too  bad,"  said  Harding. 

"  That  Carey  was  a  right  noble  fellow,"  was 
Wrigfht's  comment. 

o 

Miller  thought  if  he  had  been  right  game  he  would 
have  seen  that  girl,  old  woman  or  no  old  woman. 

"  He  was  punished  for  his  falsehood.  He  had  to 
atone  for  his  own  and  for  his  friend's  sins,"  was  Brew- 
ster's  conclusion. 

"  O,  murther  !  I  think  he  had  a  happy  deliverance 
from  the  whole  family  intoirely,"  said  Corrigan. 

Carlin,  addressing  Brewster,  said  :  "You  say  he 
was  punished  for  the  sins  of  himself  and  of  his  friend; 
how  do  you  dispose  of  the  wickedness  of  the  post 
master  ?" 

"  Possibly,"  was    the  response,   "  he   is  wicked  by 


142  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

habit,  and  it  may  be  he  is  being  reserved  for  some 
particular  judgment." 

"All  that  I  see  remarkable  about  Carey's  case," 
said  Ashley,  "  is  that  he  made  the  money  in  the  first 
place.  Had  that  stock  been  carried  for  me,  the  mine 
would  have  been  flooded  the  next  week  and  my  work 
would  have  been  mortgaged  for  a  year  to  come  to 
make  good  the  los.s." 

"  It  was  a  hard  case,  no  doubt,"  said  Strong,  "but 
I  think  with  Corrigan,  that  the  punishment  was  not 
without  its  compensations." 

"  He  had  his  mirage  and  it  was  worse  than  w-'ld 
Injuns,  was  it  not,  Wright  ?"  asked  Corrigan. 

"  Or  worse,  Barney,"  said  Wright,  "than  a  black 
smith,  a  foine  mon  and  a  mon  of  properthy." 

"  O,  murther!  Wright,"  said  Corrigan;  "stop  that. 
There  go  the  whistles,  Let  us  say  good  night/' 


CHAPTER  XI. 

About  this  time  Virginia  City  was  visited  one  day 
by  a  heavy  rain  storm  accompanied  with  thunder. 
But  as  the  sun  was  disappearing  behind  Mount 
Davidson,  the  clouds  broke  and  rolled  away  from 
the  west,  while  at  the  same  time  a  faint  rainbow 
appeared  in  the  east,  making  one  of  those  beautiful 
spectacles  common  to  mountainous  regions. 

At  the  same  time  the  flag  on  Mount  Davidson 
caught  the  beams  from  the  setting  sun  and  stood  out 
a  banner  of  fire.  This,  too,  is  not  an  infrequent 
spectacle  in  Virginia  City,  and  long  ago  inspired  a 
most  gifted  lady  to  write  a  very  beautiful  poem,  "  The 
Flag  on  Fire." 

The  storm  and  the  sunset  turned  the  minds  of  the 
Club  to  other  sublime  displays  of  nature  which  they 
had  seen.  Said  Miller,  "  I  never  saw  anything  finer 
than  a  sunset  which  I  witnessed  once  at  soa  down  off 
the  Mexican  coast. 

"  We  were  in  a  tub  of  a  steamship,  the  old  *  Jona 
than.'  We  had  been  in  a  storm  for  four  days,  on 
three  of  which  the  steamer  had  been  thrown  up  into 
the  wind,  the  machinery  working  slowly,  just  sufficient 
to  keep  steerageway  on  the  ship. 

"There  were  six  hundred  passengers  on  board, 
with  an  unusual  number  of  women  and  children,  and 
we  had  been  miserable  past  expression.  But  at  last, 

143 


144 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 


with  the  coming  of  the  dawn,  the  wind  ceased  ;  as 
soon  as  the  waves  ran  down  so  that  it  was  safe  to 
swing  the  ship,  she  was  turned  about  and  put  upon 
her  course. 

"  In  a  few  hours  the  sea  grew  comparatively 
smooth,  and  the  passengers  by  hundreds  sought  the 
deck. 

"  All  the  afternoon  the  Mexican  coast  was  in  full 
view,  blue  and  rock-bound,  and  not  many  miles  away. 

"Just  before  the  sun  set,  its  bended  rays  struck 
those  blue  headlands  and  transfigured  them.  They 
took  on  the  forms  of  walls  and  battlements,  and 
shone  like  a  city  of  gold  rising  out  of  the  sea  in  the 
crimson  east,  and  looked  as  perhaps  the  swinging 
gardens  of  Semiramis  did  from  within  the  walls  of 
Babylon.  In  the  west  the  disc  of  the  sun,  unnatur 
ally  large,  blazed  in  ineffable  splendor,  while  in  glory 
this  seeming  city  shone  in  the  east.  Between  the  two 
pictures  the  ship  was  plunging  on  her  course,  and  we 
could  feel  the  pulses  of  the  deep  sea  as  they  throbbed 
beneath  us.  The  multitude  upon  the  deck  hardly 
made  a  sound ;  all  that  broke  the  stillness  was  the 
heavy  respirations  of  the  engines  and  the  beating  of  ' 
the  paddles  upon  the  water.  The  spell  lasted  but  a 
few  minutes,  for  when  the  sun  plunged  beneath  the 
sea,  the  darkness  all  at  once  began,  as  is  common  in 
those  latitudes  ;  but  while  it  lasted  it  was  sublime. 

"  Speaking  of  Nature's  pictures,  in  my  judgment 
about  the  most  impressive  sight  that  is  made  in  this 
world  is  a  storm  at  sea.  I  mean  a  real  storm,  in 
which  a  three  thousand  ton  ship  is  tossed  about 
like  a  cork,  when  the  roar  of  the  storm  makes  human 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  145 

voices  of  no  avail,  and  when   the  billows  give  notice 
that  'deep  calleth  unto  deep.' 

"  When  a  boy  I  often  went  down  under  the  over 
hanging  rock  over  which  the  current  of  Niagara 
pours.  As  I  listened  to  the  roar  and  tried  to  compute 
the  energy  which  had  kept  those  thunders  booming 
for,  Heaven  only  knows  how  many  thousands  of 
years,  it  used  to  make  me  feel  small  enough  ;  but  it 
never  affected  me  as  does  an  ocean  storm.  When 
all  the  world  that  is  in  sight  goes  into  the  business  of 
making  Niagaras,  and  turns  out  a  hundred  of  them 
every  minute,  I  tell  you  about  all  an  ordinary  lands 
man  can  do  is  to  sit  still  and  watch  the  display. 

"  A  real  ocean  storm — a  shore-shaker — is  about  the 
biggest  free  show  that  this  world  has  yet  invented." 

Corrigan  spoke  next ;  said  he  :  "  Spakin'  of  storms 
did  you  iver  watch  the  phenomenon  of  a  ragin'  snow 
storm  high  up  in  the  Sierras  ?  When  it  is  approach 
ing  there  is  a  roar  in  the  forest  such  as  comes  up  a 
headland  when  the  sea  is  batin'  upon  its  base.  This 
will  last  for  hours,  the  pines  rockin'  like  ould  women 
at  a  wake,  and  thin  comes  the  snow.  It's  no  quiet, 
respectable  snow  such  as  you  see  in  civilized  counthries, 
but  it  just  piles  down  as  though  a  new  glacial  period 
had  descinded  upon  the  wurld.  As  it  falls  all  the 
voices  of  the  smaller  streams  grow  shtill  and  the  wind 
itself  grows  muffled  as  though  it  had  a  cowld  in  the 
head.  The  trees  up  there  are  no  shrubs,  you  know. 
They  grow  thray  hundred  feet  high  and  have  branches 
in  proportion,  and  whin  they  git  to  roarin'  and 
rockin',  it  is  as  though  all  the  armies  of  the  mountains 
were  presintin'  arms. 


146  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"When  the  storm  dies  away,  thin  it  is  you  see  a 
picture,  if  the  weather  is  not  too  cowld.  The  snow 
masses  itself  upon  the  branches,  and  thin  you  shtand 
in  a  timple  miles  in  extint,  the  floor  of  which  is  white 
like  alabaster,  while  the  columns  that  support  it  are 
wrought  in  a  lace-work  of  imerald  and  of  frast  more 
lofty  and  dilicate  than  iver  was  traced  out  by  the 
patient  hand  of  mortal  in  grand  cathadrals." 

Here  Carlin  interrupted. 

"  Say,  Barney,  is  there  not  a  great  deal  of  frieze  to 
one  of  those  Sierra  temples  ? " 

"  It  might  same  so,  lookin'  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  nave,"  was  Barney's  quick  reply. 

Groans  followed  this  outbreak,  from  various  mem 
bers  of  the  Club.  They  were  the  first  puns  that  had 
been  fired  into  that  peaceful  company,  and  they  were 
hailed  as  omens  of  approaching  trouble. 

The  gentle  voice  of  Brewster  next  broke  the 
silence. 

"  I  saw,"  he  said,  "  in  Salt  Lake  City,  three  years 
ago  on  a  summer  evening,  a  sunset  scene  which  I 
thought  was  very  beautiful.  The  electric  conditions 
had  been  strangely  disturbed  for  several  days  ;  there 
had  been  clouds  and  a  good  deal  of  thunder  and 
lightning.  You  know  Salt  Lake  City  lies  at  the  west 
ern  base  of  the  Wasatch  range.  On  this  day  toward 
evening  the  sky  to  the  west  had  grown  of  a  sapphire 
clearness,  but  in  the  east  beyond  the  first  high  hills  of 
the  range  a  great  electric  storm  was  raging.  The  clouds 
of  inky  blackness  which  shrouded  the  more  distant 
heights,  and  through  which  the  lightnings  were  inces 
santly  zigzagging,  were  in  full  view  from  the  city, 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  147 

though  the  thunders  were  caught  and  tied  in  the  deep 
caverns  of  the  intervening  hills.  To  the  southeast 
the  range  with  its  imposing  peaks  was  snow-crowned 
and  under  a  clear  sky.  In  the  southwest  the  Oquirrh 
range  was  blue  and  beautiful.  Just  then  from 
beyond  the  great  lake  the  setting  sun  threw  out  his 
shafts  of  fire,  and  the  whole  firmament  turned  to 
glory.  The  sun  blazed  from  beyond  the  waters  in 
the  west,  the  lightnings  blazed  beyond  the  nearer 
hills  in  the  east,  the  snowy  heights  in  the  southeast 
were  turned  to  purple,  while  in  the  city  every  spire, 
every  pane  of  glass  which  faced  the  west,  every  speck 
of  metal  on  house  and  temple  in  a  moment  grew 
radiant  as  burnished  gold,  and  there  was  a  shimmer 
of  splendor  in  all  the  air.  Then  suddenly  over  the 
great  range  to  the  east  and  apparently  against  the 
black  clouds  in  which  the  lightnings  were  blazing, 
the  glorious  arch  of  a  magnificent  rainbow  was  up- 
reared.  All  the  colors  were  deep-dyed  and  perfectly 
distinct.  There  was  neither  break  nor  dimness  in  all 
the  mighty  arch.  There  it  stood  poised  in  i  ndescribable 
splendor,  for  quite  five  minutes.  So  wonderful  was  the 
display  that  houses  were  deserted  ;  men  and  women 
came  out  into  the  open  air  and  watched  the  spectacle 
in  silence  and  with  uncovered  heads. 

"  No  one  stopped  to  think  that  the  glory  which, 
shone  on  high  was  made  merely  by  sunlight  shining 
through  falling  water  ;  the  cold  explanation  made  by 
science  was  forgotten,  and  hundreds  of  eyes  furtively 
watched,  half  expecting  to  catch  glimpes  of  a  divine 
hand  and  brush,  for  the  pictures  were  rare  enough  to 
be  the  perfect  work  of  celestial  beings  sent  to  sketch 


148  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

for  mortals  a  splendor  which  should  kindle  within 
them  dim  conceptions  of  the  glories  which  fill  the 
spheres  where  light  is  born. 

"Salt  Lake  City  is  famous  for  its  sunsets,  but  to 
this  one  new  and  unusual  enchantments  were  added 
by  the  storm  which  was  wheeling  its  sable  squadrons 
in  the  adjacent  mountains. 

"  As  I  watched  that  display  I  realized  for  the  first 
time  how  it  was  that  before  books  were  made,  men 
learned  to  be  devout  and  to  pray  ;  for  the  picture 
was  as  I  fancy  Sinai  must  have  appeared,  when  all  the 
elements  combined  to  make  a  spectacle  to  awe  the 
multitude  before  the  mountain  ;  and  when  they  were 
told  that  the  terrible  cloud  on  the  mountain's  crest 
was  the  robe  which  the  Infinite  God  had  drawn 
around  himself  in  mercy,  lest  a  glimpse  of  His  unap 
proachable  brightness  they  should  perish,  it  was  not 
strange  if  they  believed  it." 

It  was  not  often  that  Brewster  talked,  but  when  he 
did  there  was  about  him  a  grave  and  earnest  manner 
which  impressed  all  who  heard  him  with  the  perfect 
sincerity  of  the  man. 

After  he  ceased  speaking,  the  room  was  still  for 
several  seconds.  At  length  the  Colonel  broke  the 
silence  : 

"  Brewster,  you  spoke  of  Sinai.  What  think  you 
of  that  story ;  of  the  Red  Sea  affair  ;  of  the  Sinai  inci 
dent,  and  the  golden  calf  business  ?  " 

"  Believed  literally,"  Brewster  continued  ;  "it  is  the 
most  impressive  of  earthly  literature ;  looked  upon 
allegorically,  still  it  is  sublime.  Its  lesson  is,  that 
when  in  bondage  to  sorrow  and  to  care,  if  we  but 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  149 

bravely  and  patiently  struggle  on,  the  sea  of  trouble 
around  us  will  at  length  roll  back  its  waves  into  walls 
and  leave  for  us  a  path.  Unless  we  keep  straining 
onward  and  upward,  no  voice  of  Hope,  which  is  the 
voice  of  God,  will  descend  to  comfort  us.  If  we  are 
thirsty  we  must  smite  the  rock  for  water  ;  that  is,  for 
what  we  have  we  must  work,  and  if  we  cease  our 
struggle  and  go  into  camp,  we  not  only  shall  not  hold 
our  own,  but  in  a  little  while  we  shall  be  bestowing 
our  jewels  upon  some  idol  of  our  own  creation.  If 
we  toil  and  never  falter,  before  we  die  we  shall  climb 
Pisgah  and  behold  the  Promised  Land ;  that  is,  we 
shall  be  disciplined  until  we  can  look  every  fate  calmly 
in  the  face  and  turn  a  smiling  brow  to  the  inevitable. 

"  I  found  a  man  once,  living  upon  almost  nothing, 
in  a  hut  that  had  not  one  comfort.  He  had  graded 
out  a  sharp  hillside,  set  some  rude  poles  up  against 
the  bank,  covered  them  with  brush,  and  in  that  den 
on  a  bleak  mountain's  crest  he  had  lived  through  a 
rough  winter.  I  asked  him  how  he  managed  to  exist 
without  becoming  an  idiot  or  a  lunatic.  His  answer 
was  worthy  of  an  old  Roman.  '  Because, 'said  he,  '  I, 
at  least,  am  superior  to  distress.' 

"He  had  reached  the  point  that  Moses  reached 
when  he  gained  the  last  mountain  crest.  After  that 
the  Promised  Land  was  always  in  sight." 

"  Suppose,"  asked  Savage,  "you  buy  stocks  when 
they  are  high  and  sell  them,  or  have  them  sold  for 
you,  when  they  are  low,  where  does  the  Promised 
Land  come  in  ?" 

"  What  becomes  of  the  '  superior  to  distress ' 
theory,"  asked  Carlin,  "when  a  man  in  his  fight 


jcjo  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

against  fate  gets  along  just  as  the  men  do  in  the  Bul 
lion  shaft,  finding  nothing  but  barren  rock,  and  all  the 
time  the  air  grows  hotter  and  there  is  more  and  more 
hot  water?" 

"  Oh,  bother  the  stocks  and  the  hot  water,"  said 
Strong.  "  Professor,  we  have  heard  about  the  Wa- 
satch  range  and  Mount  Sinai,  shake  up  your  memory 
and  tell  us  about  old  Mount  Shasta !  I  heard  you 
describe  it  once.  It  is  a  grand  mountain,  is  it  not  ?" 

"The  grandest  in  America  so  far  as  I  have  seen," 
was  the  reply.  "  It  is  said  that  Whitney  is  higher, 
but  Whitney  has  for  its  base  the  Sierras,  and  the 
peaks  around  it  dwarf  its  own  tremendous  height. 
But  Shasta  rises  from  the  plain  a  single  mountain, and 
while  all  the  year  around  the  lambs  gambol  at  its  base, 
its  crown  is  eternal  snow.  Men  of  the  north  tell  me 
that  it  is  rivaled  by  Rainier,  but  I  never  saw  Rainier. 
In  the  hot  summer  days  as  the  farmers  at  Shasta's 
base  gather  their  harvests,  they  can  see  where  the 
wild  wind  is  heaping  the  snowdrifts  about  its  crest. 
The  mountain  is  one  of  Winter's  stations,  and  from 
his  forts  of  snow  upon  its  top  he  never  withdraws  his 
garrison.  There  are  the  bastions  of  ice,  the  frosty  bat 
tlements  ;  there  his  old  bugler,  the  wind,  is  daily 
sounding  the  advance  and  the  retreat  for  the  storm. 
The  mountain  holds  all  latitudes  and  all  seasons  at 
the  same  time  in  its  grasp.  Flowers  bloom  at  its 
base,  further  up  the  forest  trees  wave  their  ample 
arms  ;  further  still  the  brown  of  autumn  is  upon  the 
slopes,  and  over  all  hangs  the  white  mantle  of  eter 
nal  winter. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  151 

"  Standing  close  to  its  base,  the  human  mind  fails 
to  grasp  the  immensity  of  the  pile.  But  as  one 
from  a  distance  looks  back  upon  it,  or  from  some 
height  twenty  miles  away  views  it.  he  discovers  how 
magnificent  are  its  proportions. 

"  For  days  will  the  mountain  fold  the  mist  about 
its  crest  like  a  veil  and  remain  hidden  from  mortal 
sight,  and  then  suddenly  as  if  in  deference  to  a  rising 
or  setting  sun,  the  vapors  will  be  rolled  back  and  the 
watcher  in  the  valley  below  will  behold  gems  of  topaz 
and  of  ruby  made  of  sunbeams,  set  in  the  diadem  of 
white,  and  towards  the  sentinel  mountain,  from  a 
hundred  miles  around,  men  will  turn  their  eyes  in 
admiration.  In  its  shadows  one  feels  the  near  pres 
ence  of  God,  and  as  before  Babel  the  tongues  of  the 
people  became  confused,  so  before  this  infinitely  more 
august  tower  man's  littleness  oppresses  him,  and  he 
can  no  more  give  fitting  expression  to  his  thoughts. 

"It  frowns  and  smiles  alternately  through  the 
years  ;  it  hails  the  outgoing  and  the  incoming  cen 
turies,  changeless  amid  the  mutations  of  ages,  forever 
austere,  forever  cold  and  pure.  The  mountain  eagle 
strains  hopelessly  toward  its  crest;  the  storms  and 
the  sunbeams  beat  upon  it  in  vain ;  the  rolling  years 
cannot  inscribe  their  numbers  on  its  naked  breast. 

"  Of  all  the  mountains  that  I  have  seen  it  has  the 
most  sovereign  look  ;  it  leans  on  no  other  height ;  it 
associates  with  no  other  mountain  ;  it  builds  its  own 
pedestal  in  the  valley  and  never  doffs  its  icy  crown. 

"The  savage  in  the  long  ago,  with  awe  and 
trembling,  strained  his  eyes  to  the  height,  and  his 
clouded  imagination  pictured  it  as  the  throne  of  a 


152  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

deity  who  issued  the  snow,  the  hoar  frost  and  the 
wild  winds  from  their  brewing  place  on  the  mount 
ain's  top. 

"  The  white  man,  with  equal  awe,  strains  his  eye 
upward  to  where  the  sunlight  points  with  ruby  silver 
and  gold  the  mimic  glaciers  of  the  heights,  and  is  not 
much  wiser  than  the  unlettered  savage  in  trying  to 
comprehend  how  and  why  the  mighty  mass  was 
upreared. 

"  It  is  a  blessing  as  well  as  a  splendor.  With  its 
cold  it  seizes  the  clouds  and  compresses  them  until 
their  contents  are  rained  upon  the  thirsty  fields 
below  ;  from  its  base  the  Sacramento  starts,  babbling 
on  its  way  to  the  sea ;  despite  its  frowns  it  is  a  mer 
ciful  agent  to  mankind,  and  on  the  minds  of  those 
who  see  it  in  all  its  splendor  and  power  a  picture  is 
painted,  the  sheen  and  enchantment  of  which  will 
linger  while  memory  and  the  gift  to  admire  magnifi 
cence  is  left." 

"  That  is  good,  Profissor,"  said  Corrigan  ;  "  but  to 
me  there  is  insupportable  loneliness  about  an  isolated 
mountain.  It  sames  always  to  me  like  a  tombstone 
set  up  above  the  grave  of  a  dead  wurld.  But  spakin' 
of  beautiful  things,  did  yez  iver  see  Lake  Tahoe  in 
her  glory  ? 

"  I  was  up  there  last  fall,  and  one  day,  in  antici 
pation  of  the  winter,  I  suppose,  she  wint  to  her 
wardrobe,  took  out  all  her  winter  white  caps  and  tied 
them  on  ;  and  she  was  a  daisy. 

"  Her  natural  face  is  bluer  than  that  of  a  stock 
sharp  in  a  falling  market ;  but  whin  the  wind  comes 
a-wooin'  and  she  dons  her  foamy  lace,  powders  her 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  153 

face  with  spray  and  fastens  upon  her  swellin'  breast 
a  thousand  diamonds  of  sunlight,  O,  but  she  is  a  win 
some  looking  beauty,  to  be  sure  !  Thin,  too,  she  sings 
her  old  sintimintal  song  to  her  shores,  and  the  great 
overhanging  pines  sway  their  mighty  arms  as  though 
kapin'  time,  joinin'  with  hers  their  deep  murmurs 
to  make  a  refrain  ;  and  thus  the  lake  sings  to  the 
shore  and  the  shore  answers  back  to  the  song  all  the 
day  long.  Tahoe,  in  her  frame  of  blue  and  grane,  is 
a  fairer  picture  than  iver  glitted  on  cathadral  wall ; 
older,  fairer  and  fresher  than  ancient  master  iver 
painted  tints  immortal  upon.  There  in  the  strong 
arms  of  the  mountains  it  is  rocked,  and  whin  the 
winds  ruffle  the  azure  plumage  of  the  beautiful 
wathers,  upon  wather  and  upon  shore  a  splendor  rists 
such  as  might  come  were  an  angel  to  descind  to  earth 
and  sketch  for  mortals  a  scane  from  Summer  Land." 

"You  are  right,  Corrigan,"  said  Ashley.  "  If  the 
thirst  for  money  does  not  denude  the  shores  of  their 
trees,  and  thus  spoil  the  fame  of  your  wonderful 
picture,  Lake  Tahoe  will  be  a  growing  object  of 
interest  until  its  fame  will  be  as  wide  as  the  world. 

"  But  while  on  grand  themes,  have  you  ever  seen 
the  Columbia  River?  To  me  it  is  the  glory  of  the 
earth.  It  is  a  great  river  fourteen  hundred  miles 
above  its  mouth,  and  from  thence  on  it  rolls  to  the 
sea  with  increasing  grandeur  all  the  way.  Where  it 
hews  its  way  through  the  Cascades  a  new  and  gor 
geous  picture  is  every  moment  revealed,  and  when 
the  mountain  walls  are  pierced,  with  perfect  purity 
and  with  mighty  volume  it  sweeps  on  toward  the 
ocean.  It  is,  through  its  last  one  hundred  and  fifty 


154  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

miles,  watched  over  by  great  forests  and  magnificent 
mountains.  There  are  Hood  and  St.  Helens  and  the 
rest,  and  where,  upon  the  furious  bar,  the  river  joins 
the  sea,  there  is  an  everlasting  war  of  waters  as  beau 
tiful  as  it  is  terrible. 

"It  makes  a  man  a  better  American  to  go  up  the 
Columbia  to  the  Cascades  and  look  about  him.  He  is 
not  only  impressed  with  the  majesty  of  the  scene,  but 
thoughts  of  empire,  of  dominion  and  of  the  glory  of 
the  land  over  which  his  country's  flag  bears  sover 
eignty,  take  possession  of  him.  He  looks  down  upon 
the  rolling  river  and  up  at  Mount  Hood,  and  to  both 
he  whispers,  '  We  are  in  accord  ;  I  have  an  interest  in 
you,  and  the  great  pines  nod  approvingly,  and  the 
waterfalls  babble  louder. 

"  The  Mississippi  has  greater  volume  than  the 
Oregon,  the  Hudson  makes  rival  pictures  which  per 
haps  are  as  beautiful  as  any  painted  in  the  Cascades  ; 
but  there  is  a  power,  a  beauty,  a  purity  and  a  wild- 
ness  about  the  river  of  the  West  which  is  all  its  own 
and  which  is  unapproachable  in  its  charms. 

"  More  than  that.  To  me  the  river  is  the  emblem 
of  a  perfect  life.  Through  all  the  morning  of  its 
career  it  fights  its  way,  blazing  an  azure  trail  through 
the  desert.  There  is  no  green  upon  its  banks,  hardly 
does  a  bird  sing  as  it  struggles  on.  But  it  bears  right 
on,  and  so  austere  is  its  face  that  the  desert  is 
impotent  to  soil  it.  Then  it  meets  a  rocky  wall  and 
breaks  through  it,  roaring  on  its  way.  Then  it  takes 
the  Willamette  to  its  ample  breast,  and  it  bears  it  on 
until  it  meets  the  inevitable,  and  then  undaunted 
goes  down  to  its  giave. 


THE    COM  STOCK    CLUB. 


'55 


"  It  fights  its  way,  it  bears  its  burdens,  it  remains 
pure  and  brave  to  the  last.  That  is  all  the  best  man 
that  ever  lived  could  do." 

As  Ashley  concluded,  Strong  said  :  "  Why,  Ashley! 
that  is  good.  Why  do  you  not  give  up  mining  and 
devote  yourself  to  writing  ! " 

Ashley  laughed  low,  and  said  :  "  Because  I  have 
had  what  repentant  sinners  are  said  to  have  had,  my 
experience.  Let  me  tell  you  about  it.  , 

"  It  was  in  Belmont,  in  eastern  Nevada,  during 
that  winter  when  the  smallpox  was  bad.  It  took  an 
epidemic  form  in  Belmont,  and  a  good  many  died. 

"  Among  the  victims  was  Harlow  Reed.  Harlow 
was  a  young  and  handsome  fellow,  a  generous,  happy- 
hearted  fellow,  too,  and  when  he  was  stricken  down,  a 
'soiled  dove,'  hearing  of  his  illness,  went  and  watched 
over  him  until  he  died. 

"The  morning  after  his  death,  Billie  S came 

to  me,  and  handing  me  a  slip  of  paper  on  which  was 
Reed's  name,  age,  etc.,  asked  me  to  prepare  a  notice 
for  publication.  I  fixed  it  as  nearly  as  I  could,  as  I 
had  seen  such  things  in  newspapers.  It  read: 

DIED — In  Belmont,  December  tyth,  Harlow  Reed,  a  native  of  New 
Jersey,  aged  twenty-three  years. 

"  Billie  glanced  at  the  paper  and  then  said  :  '  Har 
low  was  a  good  fellow  and  a  good  friend  of  ours ;  can 
you  noX  add  something  to  this  notice  ?' 

"In  response  I  sat  down  and  wrote  a  brief  eulogy 
of  the  boy,  and  closed  the  article  in  these  words  : 

And  for  her,  the  poor  woman,  who  braving  the  dangers  of  the 
pestilence,  went  and  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  man  she  loved,  until  he  died; 
for  her,  though  before  her  garments  were  soiled,  we  know  that  this 
morning  in  the  Recording  Angel's  book  it  is  written,  "  Her  robes  are 
white  as  snow." 


!^6  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  Billie  took  the  paper  to  the  publisher,  and  as  he 
went  away,  I  had  a  secret  thought  that,  all  things 
being  considered,  the  notice  was  not  bad. 

"  Next  morning  I  went  into  a  restaurant  for  break 
fast  and  took  a  seat  at  a  small  table  on  one  side  of 
the  narrow  room.  Directly  opposite  me  were  two 
short-card  sharps.  One  was  eating  his  breakfast, 
while  the  other,  leaning  back  to  catch  the  light,  was 
reading  the  morning  paper.  Suddenly  he  stopped, 
and  peering  over  his  paper,  though  his  chair  still 
tilted  back,  said  to  his  companion  : 

"  '  Did  you  see  this  notice  about  that  woman  who 
took  care  of  Harlow  Reed  while  he  was  sick  ?  ' 

"'No,'  was  the  reply.  '  What  is  it  ?'  asked  the 
companion. 

"  '  It's  away  up,'  said  the  first  speaker. 

"  '  But  what  is  it  ? '  asked  the  other. 

"  The  first  speaker  then  threw  down  the  paper, 
leaned  forward,  and,  seizing  his  knife  and  fork,  said 
shortly  : 

"  'Oh,  it's  no  great  shakes  after  all.  It  says  the 
woman  while  taking  care  of  Harlow  got  her  clothes 
dirty,  but  after  he  died  she  changed  her  clothes  and 
she's  all  right  now.' 

"  Since  then  I  have  never  thought  that  I  had  better 
undertake  a  literary  career  so  long  as  I  could  get 
four  honest  dollars  a  day  for  swinging  a  hammer  in  a 
mine  ;  but  I  have  always  been  about  half  sorry  that  I 
did  not  kill  that  fellow,  notwithstanding  the  lesson 
that  he  taught  me." 

There  was  a  hearty  laugh  at  Ashley's  expense,  and 
then  Strong  roused  himself  and  said  : 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  157 

"  The  Columbia  is  very  grand,  but  you  must  follow 
it  up  to  its  chief  tributary  if  you  would  find  perfect 
glory — follow  it  into  the  very  desert.  You  have  heard 
of  the  lava  beds  of  Idaho.  They  were  once  a  river  of 
molten  fire  from  300  feet  to  900  feet  in  depth,  which 
burned  its  way  through  the  desert  for  hundreds  of 
miles.  To  the  east  of  the  source  of  this  lava  flow,  the 
Snake  river  bursts  out  of  the  hills,  becoming  almost 
at  once  a  sovereign  river,  and  flowing  first  south- 
westwardly,  and  then  bending  westward,  cuts  its  way 
through  this  lava  bed,  and,  continuing  its  way  with 
many  bends,  finally,  far  to  the  north,  merges  into  the 
Columbia.  On  Snake  river  are  several  falls.  The 
first,  the  American  Falls,  are  very  beautiful.  Sixty 
miles  below  are  the  Twin  Falls,  where  the  river,  di 
vided  into  two  nearly  equal  parts,  falls  one  hundred 
and  eighty  feet.  They  are  magnificent.  Three  miles 
below  are  the  Shoshone  Falls,  and  a  few  miles  lower 
down  the  Salmon  Falls.  It  was  of  the  Shoshone 
Falls  that  I  began  to  speak. 

•'  They  are  real  rivals  of  Niagara.  Never  any 
where  else  was  there  such  a  scene  ;  never  anywhere 
else  was  so  beautiful  a  picture  hung  in  so  rude  a 
frame  ;  never  anywhere  else  on  a  background  so  for 
bidding  and  weird  were  so  many  glories  clustered. 

"  Around  and  beyond  there  is  nothing  but  the 
desert,  sere,  silent,  lifeless,  as  though  Desolation  had 
builded  there  everlasting  thrones  for  Sorrow  and 
Despair. 

"  Away  back  in  the  remote  ages,  over  the  withered 
breast  of  the  desert,  a  river  of  fire  one  hundred  miles 
wide  and  four  hundred  miles  long,  was  turned.  As 


158  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

the  fiery  mass  cooled,  its  red  waves  became  stilled 
and  turned  black,  giving  to  the  double  desert  an  inde 
scribably  blasted  and  forbidding  face. 

But  while  this  river  of  fire  was  in  flow,  a  river  of 
water  was  fighting  its  way  across  it,  or  has  since  made 
the  war  and  forged  out  for  itself  a  channel  through 
the  mass.  This  channel  looks  like  the  grave  of  a  vol 
cano  that  has  been  robbed  of  its  dead. 

"  But  right  between  its  crumbling  and  repellant 
walls  a  transfiguration  appears.  And  such  a  picture  ! 
A  river  as  lordly  as  the  Hudson  or  the  Ohio,  spring 
ing  from  the  distant  snow-crested  Tetons,  with  waters 
transparent  as  glass,  but  green  as  emerald,  with 
majestic  flow  and  ever-increasing  volume,  sweeps  on 
until  it  reaches  this  point  where  the  august  display 
begins. 

"  Suddenly,  in  different  places  in  the  river  bed, 
jagged,  rocky  reefs  are  upraised,  dividing  the  current 
into  four  rivers,  and  these,  in  a  mighty  plunge  of 
eighty  feet  downward,  dash  on  their  way.  Of  course 
the  waters  are  churned  into  foam  and  roll  over  the 
precipice  white  as  are  the  garments  of  the  morning 
when  no  cloud  obscures  the  sun.  The  loveliest  of 
these  falls  is  called  "  The  Bridal  Veil,"  because  it  is 
made  of  the  lace  which  is  woven  with  a  warp  of  falling 
waters  and  a  woof  of  sunlight.  Above  this  and  near 
the  right  bank  is  a  long  trail  of  foam,  and  this  is 
called  "  The  Bridal  Train."  The  other  channels  are 
not  so  fair  as  the  one  called  "  The  Bridal  Veil,"  but 
they  are  more  fierce  and  wild,  and  carry  in  their  furi 
ous  sweep  more  power. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  159 

"  One  of  the  reefs  which  divides  the  river  in  mid- 
channel  runs  up  to  a  peak,  and  on  this  a  family  of 
eagles  have,  through  the  years,  maybe  through  the 
centuries,  made  their  home  and  reared  their  young, 
on  the  very  verge  of  the  abyss  and  amid  the  full 
echoes  of  the  resounding  boom  of  the  falls.  Surely 
the  eagle  is  a  fitting  symbol  of  perfect  fearlessness 
and  of  that  exultation  which  cpmes  with  battle 
clamors. 

"  But  these  first  falls  are  but  a  beginning.  The 
greater  splendor  succeeds.  With  swifter  flow  the 
startled  waters  dash  on  and  within  a  few  feet  take 
their  second  plunge  in  a  solid  crescent,  over  a  sheer 
precipice,  two  hundred  and  ten  feet  to  the  abyss 
below.  On  the  brink  there  is  a  rolling  crest  of  white, 
dotted  here  and  there,  in  sharp  contrast  with  shining 
eddies  of  green,  as  might  a  necklace  of  emerald  shim 
mer  on  a  throat  of  snow  ;  and  then  the  leap  and  fall. 

"  Here  more  than  foam  is  made.  Here  the  waters 
are  shivered  into  fleecy  spray,  whiter  and  finer  than 
any  miracle  that  ever  fell  from  India  loom,  while 
from  the  depths  below  an  everlasting  vapor  rises — the 
incense  of  the  waters  to  their  God.  Finally,  through 
the  long,  unclouded  days,  the  sun  sends  down  his 
beams,  and  to  give  the  startling  scene  its  crowning 
splendor,  wreaths  the  terror  and  the  glory  in  a  rain 
bow  halo.  On  either  sullen  bank  the  extremities  of 
its  arc  are  anchored,  and  there  in  its  many-colored 
robes  of  light  it  stands  outstretched  above  the  abyss 
like  wreaths  of  flowers  above  a  sepulchre.  Up 
through  the  glory  and  the  terror  a  reverberating  roar 
ascends,  deep-toned  as  is  the  voice  of  Fate,  a  diapa- 


1 1>0  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

son  like  that  the  rolling  ocean  chants  when  his  eager 
surges  come  rushing  in  to  greet  and  fiercely  woo  an 
irresponsive  promontory. 

"  But  to  feel  all  the  awe  and  to  mark  all  the  splen 
dor  and  power  that  come  of  the  mighty  display,  one 
must  climb  down  the  steep  descent  to  the  river's  brink 
below,  and  pressing  up  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
falls,  contemplate-  the  tremendous  picture.  There 
something  of  the  energy  that  creates  that  unrolling 
panorama  is  comprehended  ;  all  the  deep  throbbings 
of  the  mighty  river's  pulses  are  felt ;  all  the  magnifi 
cence  is  seen. 

"In  the  resounding  detonations  that  come  of  the 
war  of  waters  one  hears  something  like  God's  voice  ; 
something  like  the  splendor  of  God  is  before  his 
eyes  ;  something  akin  to  God's  power  is  manifesting 
itself  before  him,  and  his  soul  shrinks  within  itself, 
conscious  as  never  before  of  its  own  littleness  and 
helplessness  in  the  presence  of  the  workings  of 
Nature's  immeasurable  forces. 

"  Not  quite  so  massive  is  the  picture  as  is  Niagara, 
but  it  has  more  lights  and  shades  and  loveliness,  as 
though  a  hand  more  divinely  skilled  had  mixed  the 
tints,  and  with  more  delicate  art  had  transfixed  them 
upon  that  picture  suspended  there  in  its  rugged  and 
sombre  frame. 

"As  one  watches  it  is  not  difficult  to  fancy  that 
away  back  in  the  immemorial  and  unrecorded  past, 
the  Angel  of  Love  bewailed  the  fact  that  mortals 
were  to  be  given  existence  in  a  spot  so  forbidding,  a 
spot  that  apparently  was  never  to  be  warmed  with 
God's  smile,  which  was  never  to  make  a  sign  through 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  l6l 

which  God's  mercy  was  to  be  discerned ;  that  then 
Omnipotence  was  touched,  that  with  His  hand  He 
smote  the  hills  and  started  the  great  river  on  its  flow ; 
that  with  His  finger  He  traced  out  the  channel  across 
the  corpse  of  that  other  river  that  had  been  fire,  min 
gled  the  sunbeams  with  the  raging  waters  and  made 
it  possible  in  that  fire-blasted  frame  of  scoria  to 
swing  a  picture  which  should  be,  first  to  the  red  man 
and  later  to  the  pale  races,  a  certain  sign  of  the 
existence,  the  power  and  the  unapproachable  splendor 
of  the  Great  First  Cause. 

"  And  as  the  red  man  through  the  centuries 
watched  the  spectacle,  comprehending  nothing  except 
that  an  infinite  voice  was  smiting  his  ears,  and  ineffa 
ble  glories  were  blazing  before  his  eyes  ;  so  through 
the  centuries  to  come  the  pale  races  will  stand  upon 
the  shuddering  shore  and  watch,  experiencing  a 
mighty  impulse  to  put  off  the  sandals  from  their  feet, 
under  an  overmastering  consciousness  that  the  spot 
on  which  they  are  standing  is  holy  ground. 

"  There  is  nothing  elsewhere  like  it ;  nothing  half 
so  weird,  so  wild,  so  beautiful,  so  clothed  in  majesty, 
so  draped  with  terror  ;  nothing  else  that  awakens 
impressions  at  once  so  startling,  so  winsome,  so  pro 
found.  While  journeying  through  the  desert  to  come 
suddenly  upon  it,  the  spectacle  gives  one  something 
of  the  emotions  that  would  be  experienced  to  behold 
a  resurrection  from  the  dead.  In  the  midst  of  what 
seems  like  a  dead  world,  suddenly  there  springs  into 
irrepressible  life  something  so  marvelous,  so  grand, 
so  adorned  with  loveliness  and  irresistible  might,  that 


1 62  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

the  head  is  bowed,  the  strained  heart  throbs  tumul- 
tuously  and  the  awed  soul  sinks  to  its  knees." 

The  whistles  had  sounded  while  Strong  was  speak 
ing,  and  as  he  finished  the  good  nights  were  spoken 
and  the  lights  put  out. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

With  the  lighting  of  the  pipes  one  evening,  the 
conversation  of  the  Club  turned  upon  what  consti 
tuted  courage  and  a  high  sense  of  honor;  whether 
these  were  native  gifts  or  acquired.  A  good  deal  of 
talk  ensued,  until  at  last  Wright's  opinion  was  asked. 

"  You  are  all  right,"  said  he,  "  and  all  wrong.  Some 
men  are  born  insensible  to  fear,  and  some  have  a 
high  sense  of  honor  through  instinct.  But  this,  I 
take  it,  is  not  the  rule,  and  comes,  I  think,  mostly  as 
a  hereditary  gift,  through  long  generations  of  proud 
ancestors.  In  my  judgment,  no  gift  to  mortals  is  as 
noble  as  a  lofty,  honest  pride.  I  do  not  mean  that 
spurious  article  which  we  see  so  much  of,  but  the 
pride  which  will  not  permit  a  man  or  woman  to  have 
an  unworthy  thought,  because  of  the  sense  of  degrada 
tion  which  it  brings  to  the  breast  that  entertains  it. 
This,  I  believe,  is  more  common  in  women  than  in 
men,  and  I  suppose  that  it  was  this  divine  trait,  mani 
festing  itself  in  a  brutal  age,  which  gave  birth  to  the 
chivalry  of  the  Middle  ages. 

"I  have  known  a  few  men  who,  I  believe,  were 
born  without  the  instinct  of  fear.  Charley  Fairfax 
was  one  of  these.  He  was  a  dead  shot  with  a  pistol. 
He  had  some  words  with  a  man  one  day  on  the  street 
in  Sacramento  ,and  the  man  being  very  threatening, 
Fairfax  drew  and  cocked  his  Derringer.  At  the  same 

163 


1 64  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

moment  the  man  drove  the  blade  of  a  sword-cane 
through  one  of  Fairfax's  lungs,  making  a  wound 
which  eventually  proved  fatal.  Fairfax  raised  his 
Derringer  and  took  a  quick  aim  at  the  heart  of  the 
murderer,  but  suddenly  dropped  the  weapon  and 
said  :  '  You  have  killed  me,  but  you  have  a  wife  and 
children  ;  for  their  sakes  I  give  you  your  life,'  and 
sank  fainting  and,  as  he  thought,  dying,  into  the 
arms  of  a  friend  who  caught  him  as  he  was  falling. 

"  There  are  other  men  as  generous  as  Fairfax  was, 
but  to  do  what  he  did,  when  smarting  under  a  fatal 
wound,  requires  the  coolness  and  the  nerve  of  abso 
lute  self-possession. 

"  Not  one  man  in  a  million  under  such  circum 
stances  could  command  himself  enough  to  think  to 
be  generous.  Many  a  man,  for  his  courage,  has  had 
a  statue  raised  to  his  memory  who  never  did  and 
never  could  have  given  any  such  proof  of  a  manhood 
absolutely  self-contained  as  did  Fairfax  on  that 
occasion. 

"  But,  as  a  rule,  we  are  all  mere  creatures  of  edu 
cation.  A  friend  of  mine  came  'round  the  Horn  in  a 
clipper  ship.  He  told  me  that  when  off  the  Cape 
they  encountered  a  gale  which  drove  the  ship  far  to 
the  southward ;  that  the  weather  was  so  dreadfully 
cold  that  the  ship's  rigging  was  sheeted  with  ice 
from  sleet  and  frozen  spray. 

"  One  evening  the  gale  slackened  a  little  and  some 
sails  were  bent  on,  but  toward  the  turn  of  the  night 
the  wind  came  on  again  and  the  sails  had  to  be  taken 
in.  Said  my  friend :  '  The  men  went  up  those 
swaying  masts  and  out  upon  those  icy  yards  appar- 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  165 

ently  without  a  thought  of  danger,  while  I  stood 
upon  the  deck  fairly  trembling  with  terror  merely 
watching  them.'  After  a  while  the  storm  was 
weathered,  the  Cape  was  rounded  and  the  ship  put 
into  Valparaiso  for  fresh  supplies. 

"  The  sailors  were  given  a  holiday.  They  went 
ashore  and  hired  saddle  horses  to  visit  some  resort  a 
few  miles  out  of  town.  They  mounted  and  started 
away,  but  within  three  minutes  half  of  them  returned 
leading  their  horses,  and  one  spoke  for  all  when  he 
said :  '  The  brute  is  crank ;  I  am  afraid  he  will 
broach  to  and  capsize.' 

"  The  men  who  rode  the  icy  spars  off  Cape  Horn 
on  that  inky  midnight  were  afraid  to  ride  those  gen 
tle  mustangs. 

"  There  are,  I  suppose,  in  this  city  to-night  one 
hundred  men  who,  with  knife  or  pistol,  would  fight 
anybody  and  not  think  much  about  it.  But  what 
would  they  do  were  they  placed  where  I  saw  Corri- 
gan  unconcernedly  working  to-day  ? 

"  He  was  sitting  on  a  narrow  plank  which  had 
been  laid  across  a  shaft  at  the  eight-hundred-foot 
level,  repairing  a  pump  column.  He  was  eight  hun 
dred  feet  from  the  surface,  and  there  was  only  that 
plank  between  him  and  the  bottom  of  that  shaft, 
nine  hundred  feet  below.  Put  the  ordinary  ruffian, 
who  cuts  and  shoots,  on  that  plank  and  he  would  faint 
and  fall  off  through  sheer  fright." 

"  I  guess  you  are  right,"  interposed  Carlin.  "  There 
is  the  Mexican  who  lives  across  the  street  from  us. 
If  I  were  to  take  a  revolver  and  go  over  there  in  the 
morning  and  attack  him,  the  chances  are  I  should 


1 66  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

/  scare  him  to  death  ;  were  I  to  try  the  same  experi 
ment  with  a  bowie-knife  the  chances  are  more  than 
even  that  he  would  give  me  more  of  a  game  than  I 
should  want,  and  simply  because  he  is  accustomed  to 
a  knife  and  not  to  a  pistol. 

"  So  the  mountain  trapper  will  attack  a  grizzly  bear 
with  perfect  coolness,  or  cross  the  swiftest  stream  in 
a  canoe  without  any  fear,  but  bring  the  same  man 
for  the  first  time  here  to  the  mine  and  ask  him  to  get 
on  a  cage  with  you  and  go  down  a  shaft,  and  he  will 
grow  pale  and  tremble  like  a  girl." 

"  An  Indian,"  suggested  the  Professor,  "  at  the  side 
of  a  white  man  will  go  into  a  desperate  battle  and 
never  flinch ;  so  long  as  the  white  man  lives  he  will 
fight  even  unto  death.  But  let  a  white  man  engage 
in  a  hand-to-hand  fight  with  two  or  three  Indians,  and 
if  he  has  the  nerve  to  hold  him  up  to  the  fight  for 
two  or  three  minutes  he  will  conquer,  because  a  hered 
itary  fear  overcomes  the  savage  that  the  pale  face 
will  conquer  in  the  end.  That  is  really  the  cowardice 
which  Falstaff  assumed  to  feel,  the  cowardice  of 
instinct  in  the  presence  of  the  true  prince,  and  is  the 
mark  which  the  Indian  mothers  have  impressed  upon 
th£ir  babes  for  ten  generations. 

"  The  rule  is  that  we  follow  our  trades  !  " 

"  Then,  some  men  are  brave  at  one  time  and  cow 
ardly  at  another,"  said  the  Colonel.  "  Men  who  will 
fight  without  shrinking,  by  day,  are  often  completely 
demoralized  by  a  night  attack.  With  such  men  the 
trouble  is,  they  cannot  see  to  estimate  their  danger, 
and  their  imaginations  multiply  and  magnify  it  a 
hundred  fold.  I  know  a  man  in  this  city  who  has  been 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  1 67 

in  a  hundred  fights,  many  of  them  most  desperate 
encounters.  He  told  me  once  that  he  believed  it 
would  frighten  him  to  death  to  be  awakened  at  night 
by  a  burglar  in  his  room. 

"This  is  the  fear,  too,  which  paralyzes  men  in  the 
presence  of  an  earthquake.  The  sky  may  be  clear 
and  the  air  still,  but  the  thought  that  in  a  moment 
chaos  may  come  is  too  much  for  the  ordinary  nerves 
of  mortals." 

"  The  bravest  act  I  ever  witnessed  was  on  C  street 
in  this  city,"  responded  Strong.  "  It  was  a  little 
Hebrew  dunning  a  desperado  for  the  balance  due  on 
a  pair  of  pantaloons.  The  amount  was  six  dollars 
and  fifty  cents.  I  would  not  have  asked  the  fighter 
for  the  money  for  six  times  the  sum,  but  the  little 
chap  not  only  asked  for  it,  but  when  the  fighter  tried 
to  evade  him,  he  seized  him  by  the  arm  with  one 
hand  and  putting  the  forefinger  of  his  other  hand 
alongside  his  own  nose,  in  the  most  insulting  tone 
possible  said  :  '  You  does  not  get  avay.  Der  man 
vot  does  not  bay  for  his  glose  is,  vots  yer  call  him  ? 
one  d d  loafer.  I  vants  my  monish.' 

"The  fighter  could  no  more  escape  from  that  eye 
than  a  chicken.hawk  can  from  the  spell  of  the  eye  of 
the  black-snake,  and  so  he  settled. 

"  That  was  the  courage  which  it  required  the 
hardships  and  persecutions  of  one  hundred  genera 
tions  of  suffering  men  to  acquire,  and  I  tell  you  there 
was  something  thrilling  in  the  way  it  was  mani 
fested." 

"So,  too,  men's  ideas  of  honor  are  often  warped 
strangely  by  education,"  Miller  said.  "  Do  you  remem- 


1 68  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

her  there  was  a  Frenchman  hanged  in  this  city  a  few- 
years  ago  ?  On  the  scaffold,  with  a  grandiloquent 
air,  just  before  the  cap  was  drawn  over  his  face, 
he  said  :  '  Zey  can  hang  me,  but  zey  cannot  hang 
Frawnce.'  He  had  from  childhood  entertained  the 
belief  that  there  was  but  one  entirely  invincible 
nation  on  this  earth,  and  that  was  France ;  and  the 
thought  that  to  the  last  France  must  be  honored 
possessed  him. 

"That  man  had  murdered  a  poor  woman  of  the 
town  for  her  money." 

"  I  should  say  there  weje  some  queer  ideas  of  honor 
in  this  country,"  chipped  in  the  Colonel.  "  I  believe 
the  rule  among  some  or  all  sporting  men  is,  that  it  is 
entirely  legitimate  to  practice  any  advantage  on  an 
opponent  in  a  game,  so  long  as  the  same  idea  con 
trols  the  opponent.  "  Still,  those  men  have  most 
tenacious  ideas  of  honor.  Indeed,  they  have  a  code  of 
their  own.  If  one  borrows  money  of  another  he  pays 
it  if  he  has  to  rob  someone  to  do  it.  If  one  stakes 
another — that  is,  gives  him  money  to  play — and  a 
winning  is  made,  the  profits  are  scrupulously  divided. 
If  one  loses  more  at  night  than  he  has  money  to  pay, 
he  must  have  it  early  next  morning  or  go  into  dis 
grace. 

"  A  friend  of  mine  who  lived  on  Treasure  Hill  dur 
ing  that  first  fearful  winter,  told  me  that  during  that 
season  a  faro  game  was  running,  and  the  owners  of 
the  bank  had  won  some  thirty-five  hundred  dollars. 
The  dealer's  habit  was  to  lock  up  his  place  in  the 
forenoon  and  not  return  until  evening.  The  interval 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  169 

was  his  only  time  for  sleep,  as  the  game  frequently 
ran  all  night. 

"Three  or  four  'sports'  who  lived  together  in  a 
house  had  lost  heavily  at  this  game.  One  morning, 
one  of  them  said  that  if  he  could  only  get  that  dealer's 
cards  for  half  an  hour  he  believed  he  could  '  fix  '  them 
so  that  the  luck  of  the  boys  would  change. 

"They  had  fora  cook  and  servant  a  young  man 
who  had  confessed  that  he  left  the  East  without  any 
extensive  or  extended  preparations,  and  that  he  did 
it  to  avoid  paying  a  penalty  for  picking  a  lock  and 
robbing  a  till. 

"  He  was  called  up,  it  was  explained  to  him  what 
was  wanted  and  for  what  reason,  and  was  asked  if  it 
were  not  possible  for  him  to  procure  those  cards. 

"  The  youth  took  kindly  to  the  proposition,  went 
away,  and  in  a  few  minutes  returned — not  with  the 
cards — but  with  the  dealer's  sack  of  coin,  saying  as 
he  laid  down  the  sack  :  '  As  I  picked  the  lock  of  the 
drawer  I  found  the  sack  and  the  cards  lying  side  by 
side.  I  thought  it  would  be  easier  to  take  the  coin 
than  to  fool  with  the  cards,  and  here  it  is.' 

"  Instantly  there  was  a  commotion,  and  a  perfect 
storm  of  imprecations  was  poured  out  upon  the 
thief.  On  every  side  were  shouts  of  :  '  Take  back  that 
money,  you  miserable  New  York  thief!  What  do 
you  take  us  for  ?  Take  back  that  sack  or  we  will  sell 
you  for  head  cheese  before  night ! ' 

"  The  youth  carried  back  the  coin  and  brought  the 
cards.  They  were  found  to  be  *  fixed ' ;  they  were 
'fixed 'over  and  returned,  and  that  night 'on  the 
dead  square,'  the  bank  was  broken.  The  boys  had 


170  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB, 

the  sack  for  the  second  time,  but  this  time  the  trans 
action,  according  to  their  code,  was  entirely  legiti 
mate. 

"  By  the  operation  the  professional  thief  obtained 
new  ideas  of  the  nice  distinctions  which  are  made  in 
the  gamblers'  code  of  honor." 

"  I  once  in  Idaho  knew  a  most  conscientious 
Judge,"  said  Miller."  "  In  his  court  a  suit  involving 
the  title  of  some  mining  ground  was  pending  between 
two  companies.  In  another  part  of  the  district  the 
Judge  had  some  claims  which  were  looked  upon  as 
mere  'wild  cat.' 

"  He  had  for  a  year  been  trying  to  raise  money  to 
open  his  claims,  but  without  avail.  He  had  incor 
porated  with  forty  thousand  shares  and  held  his 
shares  at  one  dollar,  with  the  understanding  that 
twenty  per  cent,  of  the  stock  should  be  set  aside  as  a 
working  capital.  But  no  one  could  see  the  ground 
with  the  sanguine  eyes  of  the  Judge,  so  he  still  had 
all  his  stock. 

"  But  one  night  quite  late  the  Judge  heard  a  soft 
knock  on  the  door.  In  answer  to  his  '  come  in,'  the 
president  of  the  company  that  was  plaintiff  in  the 
mining  suit  entered,  when  this  conversation  ensued  : 

"  '  I  was  looking  at  your  claims  over  on  the  east 
side  to-day,'  said  the  president,  '  and  I  believe  they 
are  good  and  would  like  some  of  the  stock.' 

"  There  is  some  of  it  for  sale  at  one  dollar,'  was  the 
reply. 

"  '  I  will  take  ten  thousand  shares,'  said   the  presi 
dent.     '  If  you   please,  have  the  stock  ready  and  I 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  I  71 

will  call  at  nine  o'clock  to-morrow  morning  with  the 
money.' 

"  '  I  suppose  this  transaction  had  better  be  kept 
secret  at  present/  suggested  the  Judge. 

"  '  Oh,  yes.  It  is  a  private  speculation  of  my  own, 
and  I  would  rather  mycompany  would  not  hear  of  it.' 

"  '  Very  well,  the  stock  will  be  ready.' 

"  The  money  was  promptly  paid  and  the  stock 
delivered. 

"  The  day  of  trial  drew  near,  wnen  one  day  the 
Judge  met  the  superintendent  of  the  company  which 
was  defendant  in  the  suit.  The  Judge  told  the  super 
intendent  that  he  had  some  promising  claims,  and 
added  impressively  that  if  he  could  afford  to  purchase 
about  ten  thousand  shares  he  felt  sure  that  he  would 
do  well.  The  superintendent  admitted  that  he  had 
examined  the  claims  with  considerable  care,  and 
believed  with  the  Judge,  that  there  was  promise  in 
them.  The  result  was  that  the  next  day  another  ten 
thousand  dollars  was  paid  to  the  Judge  and  ten  thou 
sand  more  shares  delivered.  The  Judge  deposited 
sixteen  thousand  dollars  to  his  own  account  and  four 
thousand  dollars  to  the  credit  of  the  company.  With 
the  four  thousand  dollars  he  let  a  contract  for  work 
on  the  mine. 

"In  due  time  the  case  in  court  came  on,  was  decided 
in  favor  of  the  plaintiff  and  an  appeal  provided 
for.  The  plaintiff  kept  still  about  the  stock  transac 
tion,  but  the  superintendent  of  the  defendant  com 
pany  did  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  the  Judge  was  a 
thief.  So  matters  ran  along  for  some  months,  when 
one  day  the  aforesaid  president  and  superintendent 


1^2  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUE. 

each  received  a  note  asking  them  to  call  at  the  office 
of  the  Judge  at  a  certain  hour.  Both  responded,  and 
each  was  greatly  surprised  to  see  the  other. 

"  The  Judge  opened  the  business  by  saying  that  a 
grand  deposit  of  ore  had  been  struck  on  one  of  the 
claims  from  which  enough  ore  had  already  been 
taken  to  enable  the  company  to  pay  a  dollar  per  share 
dividend  on  the  capital  stock,  upon  which  he  pushed 
a  check  for  ten  thousand  dollars  to  each  of  the  men. 
He  then  went  on  to  say  that  he  had  that  morning 
received  an  offer  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  for 
the  property,  which  he  thought  was  a  fair  price,  and 
asked  the  opinion  of  the  others.  They  thought  so, 
too,  and  in  a  few  days  the  money  was  paid  over  and 
each  of  the  two  received  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

"' Now,' said  the  Judge,  'let  me  give  you  some 
advice.  Settle  up  that  foolish  lawsuit  outside  of 
court.  The  claim  is  not  worth  what  either  one  of  you 
will  pay  out  in  attorneys'  fees  if  you  fight  it  out  in 
the  courts.' 

"  By  this  time  the  three  men  had  grown  familiar, 
so  the  superintendent  ventured  to  say  : 

"  'Judge,  will  you  tell  me  what  caused  you  to  urge, 
me  to  buy  those  shares  ?' 

"  I  thought  it  was  a  good  investment,"  was  the 
reply. 

"  But  was  not  there  something  else  ?  "  asked  the 
superintendent. 

"  '  To  tell  you  the  truth,'  replied  the  Judge,  '  I  had 
received  ten  thousand  dollars  from  the  President 
here,  and  I  was  afraid  if  the  matter  went  that  way 
into  the  court  I  might  be  prejudiced,  so  I  sold  you 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  173 

a  like  amount,  that  I  might  go  upon  the  bench,  to 
try  the  case,  entirely  unbiased'  ' 

"  He  was  a  good  judge,  no  doubt,  but  he  ividently 
had  a  leanin'  toward  the  east  side,"  said  Corrigan. 

"  That  was  one  case  where  the  only  justification 
was  success,"  said  Brewster. 

"  He  took  his  chances,  that  was  all,"  Miller 
remarked,  "and  that  is  the  corner-stone  on  which 
every  fortune  on  the  coast  has  been  builded.  I  mean 
every  fortune  in  mining." 

"That  is  so,"  chimed  in  Carlin.  "  Mining  is  sim 
ply  a  grand  lottery,  and  is  about  as  much  of  a  game 
of  chance  as  poker  or  faro." 

"  Oh,  no,  Carlin,"  said  Strong.  "  You  have  picked 
up  the  idea  that  is  popular,  but  there  is  nothing  to  it. 
I  am  not  referring  to  mining  on  paper,  that  mining 
which  is  done  on  Pine  and  California  streets.  That 
is  not  only  gambling,  but  it  is,  nine  times  out  of  ten, 
pure  stealing.  But  what  I  mean  is  where  a  man,  or  a 
few  men,  from  the  unsightly  rock,  by  honest  labor, 
wrest  something  which  all  men,  barbarous  and  civil 
ized  alike,  hold  as  precious  ;  something  which  was 
not  available  before,  but  which,  when  found,  the 
whole  world  accepts  as  a  measure  of  values,  and  the 
production  of  which  makes  an  addition  to  the  world's 
accumulated  wealth,  and  not  only  injures  none,  but 
quickens  the  arteries  of  trade  everywhere  ;  that  is  not 
gambling.  Of  course  there  are  mistakes ;  of  course 
worlds  of  unnecessary  work  have  been  performed,  of 
course  hopes  have  been  blasted  and  hearts  broken 
through  the  business,  but  in  this  world  men  have  to 
pay  for  their  educatiohs.  Twenty  years  ago  there 


I  74  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

was  not  a  man  in  America  who  could  work  Comstock 
ores  up  to  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  their  money 
value  ;  only  a  scholarly  few  knew  anything  about 
the  formations  in  which  ore  veins  are  liable  to  be 
found;  processes  to  work  ores  and  economical 
methods  to  open  and  work  mines  had  to  be  invented  ; 
so  far  as  the  West  was  concerned,  the  business  of 
mining  and  reducing  ores  had  to  be  created.  The 
results  do  not  justify  any  man  in  calling  mining  a  lot 
tery.  In  my  judgment  it  is  the  most  legitimate  busi 
ness  in  the  world;  the  only  one  in  which  there  can 
be  no  overproduction,  and  the  one  which,  above  all 
others,  advances  every  other  industry  of  the  country. 

"  When  the  steam  engine  was  first  invented,  steam 
boilers  Mew  up  every  day.  This  was  no  argument 
against  the  engine,  but  was  a  notice  to  men  to  build 
better  boilers.  For  the  same  reason  the  sixty-pound 
steel  rail  had  been  substituted  for  the  old  wooden 
rail  with  an  iron  strap  on  top  on  railways,  and  the 
sixteen-ton  Pullman  car  for  the  old  rattle-trap  that 
the  slightest  collision  would  smash.  The  Westing- 
house  air  brake  and  the  Miller  platform  are  part  of 
the  same  education. 

"  By  and  by  men  will  learn  to  know  the  rocks,  and 
when  their  marks  and  signs  are  reduced  to  a  perfect 
alphabet  the  crude  work  of  mining  as  carried  on  now 
will  take  on  the  dignity  of  a  science,  and  mining  will 
become  what  it  deserves  to  be,  the  most  honored  of 
industries." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

At  length  the  first  sorrow  fell  upon  the  Club.  The 
mail  brought  to  Corrigan  one  day  the  news  of  the 
death  of  his  mother  in  New  York.  It  was  a  terrible 
blow  to  him.  It  had  been  his  dream  all  through  the 
years  he  had  been  absent  from  his  home  that  some 
time  he  would  accumulate  money  enough  to  provide 
her  with  a  home,  where  around  her  life  every  comfort 
would  be  drawn,  and  from  her  life  every  heart-break 
ing  care  would  be  driven  away.  But  time  would  not 
wait  for  him,  and  the  letter,  which  only  in  gentle 
words  told  him  of  his  mother's  death,  kindled  in  his 
heart  such  bitter  self-reproaches  that  for  a  while  the 
warm-hearted  man's  grief  was  not  to  be  assuaged. 

The  Club  heartily  sympathized  with  him,  but 
there  was  little  said.  The  men  who  faced  death  daily 
in  a  deep  mine  either  come  to  think,  after  a  while, 
that  this  life  hangs  on  too  tender  a  thread  to  be 
grieved  over  so  very  much  when  that  thread  is  broken 
or  because  of  the  nature  of  their  occupation,  which  is 
necessarily  carried  on  mostly  in  silence,  they  lose  the 
faculty  to  say  the  words  which  in  society  circles  are, 
intruded  upon  people  who  are  in  deep  sorrow. 

On  this  evening  the  supper  was  eaten  in  silence, 
Corrigan  hardly  tasting  anything. 

As  the  Club  took  their  seats,  Ashley  found  oppor 
tunity  covertly  to  whisper  to  Yap  Sing  that  Corrigan 

175 


!76  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

had  received  bad  news  and  he  must  prepare  some 
thing  especially  tempting  for  him  to  eat.  When  the 
meal  was  nearly  finished  Yap  Sing  brought  a  mam 
moth  dish  of  strawberries,  a  bowl  of  sugar  and  pitcher 
of  cream,  and  after  the  noiseless  manner  of  his  race, 
set  them  in  front  of  Corrigan's  plate.  No  one  else  at 
the  table  seemed  to  notice  the  act  of  the  Chinaman. 
Corrigan  gave  a  quick  glance  around  the  table  and 
when  he  saw  that  no  one  else  was  to  be  served  with 
the  berries — that  it  was  meant  as  a  special  act  of 
sympathy  for  him — his  eyes  filled  with  tears  and  he 
hastily  withdrew  from  the  room. 

At  his  leisure  during  the  evening  Yap  Sing  ate 
the  berries  and  the  cream,  remarking  to  himself  as 
he  did  so  : 

"  Me  heap  solly  Meester  Coligan  ;  me  likee  be  heap 
solly  ebbly  day." 

For  an  hour  after  supper  the  Club  did  little  but 
smoke.  At  length,  however,  Harding,  who  usually 
spent  his  evenings  absorbed  in  reading,  laid  aside  his 
book  and  in  his  low  and  kindly  voice,  began  to  talk. 

"  Often  when  a  boy  I  heard  my  father  tell  a  story 
of  a  woman,  a  Sister  of  Chanty,  which,  I  think,  may 
be,  it  will  be  good  to  tell  to  night. 

"In  one  of  the  mountain  towns  of  Northern  Cali 
fornia  a  good  many  years  ago,  while  yet  good  women 
compared  to  the  number  of  the  men,  were  so  dispro 
portionately  few,  suddenly  one  day,  upon  the  street, 
clad  in  the  unattractive  garb  of  a  Sister  of  Charity, 
appeared  a  woman  whose  marvelous  loveliness  the 
coarse  garments  and  uncouth  hood  peculiar  to  the 
order  could  not  conceal. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  I  77 

"There  was  a  Sisters'  Hospital  in  the  place,  and 
this  nun  was  one  of  the  devoted  women  who  had 
come  to  minister  to  the  sick  in  that  hospital. 

"  She  was  of  medium  size  and  height,  and  despite 
her  shapeless  garments  it  was  easy  to  see  that  her 
form  was  beautiful.  The  hand  that  carried  a  basket 
was  a  delicate  one ;  under  her  unsightly  hood 
glimpses  of  a  brow  as  white  as  a  planet's  light  could 
be  caught ;  the  coarse  shoes  upon  her  feet  were  three 
sizes  too  large.  When  she  raised  her  eyes  from  the 
inner  depths  a  light  like  that  of  kindly  stars  shone 
out,  and  though  a  Sister  of  Charity,  there  was  some 
thing  about  her  lips  which  seemed  to  say  that  of  all 
famines  a  famine  of  kisses  was  hardest  to  endure. 
There  was  a  stately,  kindly  dignity  in  her  mien,  but 
in  all  her  ways  there  was  a  dainty  grace  which,  upon 
the  hungry  eyes  of  the  miners  of  that  mountain 
town,  seemed  like  enchantment.  She  could  not  have 
been  more  than  twenty  years  of  age. 

"  It  was  told  that  she  was  known  as  '  Sister 
Celeste,'  that  she  had  recently  come  to  the  Western 
Coast,  it  was  believed,  from  France,  and  that  was  all 
that  was  known  of  her.  When  the  Mother  Superior 
at  the  hospital  was  questioned  about  the  new  Sister, 
she  simply  answered  :  '  Sister  Celeste  is  a  Sister 
now ;  she  will  be  a  glorified  Saint  by  and  by.' 

"  The  first  public  appearance  of  Sister  Celeste  in 
the  town  was  one  Sunday  afternoon.  She  emerged 
from  her  hospital  and  started  to  carry  some  delicacy 
to  a  poor,  sick  woman,  a  Mrs.  De  Lacy,  who  lived 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  town  from  the  hospital ; 
so  to  visit  her  the  nun  was  obliged  to  walk  almost  the 


I  78  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

whole  length  of  the  one  long,  crooked  street  which, 
in  the  narrow  canon,  included  all  the  business  portion 
of  the  town. 

"  When  the  nun  started  out  from  the  hospital  the 
town  was  full  of  miners,  as  was  the  habit  in  those 
days  on  Sunday  afternoons,  and  as  the  Sister  passed 
along  the  street  hundreds  of  eyes  were  bent  upon  her. 
She  seemed  unconscious  of  the  attention  she  was 
attracting ;  had  she  been  walking  in  her  sleep  she 
could  not  have  been  more  composed. 

"  Many  were  the  comments  made  as  she  passed  out 
of  the  hearing  of  different  groups  of  men.  One  big, 
rough  miner,  who  had  just  accepted  an  invitation  to 
drink,  caught  sight  of  the  vision,  watched  the  Sister 
as  she  passed  and  tben  said  to  the  companion  who 
had  asked  him  : 

"  '  Excuse  me,  Bob,  I  have  a  feeling  as  though  my 
soul  had  just  partaken  of  the  sacrament.  No  more 
gin  for  me  to-day.' 

"  Said  another  :  '  It  is  a  fearful  pity.  That  woman 
was  born  to  be  loved,  and  to  love  somebody  better 
than  nine  hundred  and  ninety  out  of  every  thousand 
could.  Her  occupation  is,  in  her  case,  a  sin  against 
nature.  Every  hour  her  heart  must  protest  against 
the  starvation  which  it  feels  ;  every  day  she  must 
feel  upon  her  robes  the  clasp  of  little  hands  which 
are  not  to  be.' 

"  One  boisterous  miner,  a  little  in  his  cups,  watched 
until  the  Sister  disappeared  around  a  bend  in  the 
crooked  street,  and  then  cried  out :  '  Did  you  see  her, 
boys?  That  is  the  style  of  woman  that  a  man  could 
die  for  and  smile  while  dying.  Oh  !  Oh  ! '  Then 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  179 

drawing  from  his  belt  a  buckskin  purse,  he  held  it 
aloft  and  shouted  :  '  Here  are  eighty  ounces  of  the 
cleanest  dust  ever  mined  in  Bear  Gulch  ;  it's  all  I 
have  in  the  world,  but  I  will  give  the  last  grain  to 
any  bruiser  in  this  camp  who  will  look  crooked  at 
that  Sister  when  she  comes  back  this  way,  and  let  me 
see  him  doit.  In  just  a  minute  and  a  half — but  no 
matter,  I'm  better  that  I  have  seen  her.' 

"  After  that,  daily,  for  all  the  following  week,  Sis 
ter  Celeste  was  seen  going  to  and  returning  from  the 
sick  woman's  house.  It  suddenly  grew  to  be  a  habit 
with  everybody  to  uncover  their  heads  as  Sister 
Celeste  came  by. 

"  Sunday  came  around  again,  and  it  was  noticed 
that  on  that  morning  the  nun  went  early  to  visit  her 
charge  and  remained  longer  than  usual.  On  her 
return,  when  just  about  opposite  the  main  saloon  of 
the  place,  a  kindly,  elderly  gentleman,  who  was  uni 
versally  known  and  respected,  ventured  to  cross  the 
path  of  the  Sister,  and  address  her  as  follows  : 

"  '  I  beg  pardon,  good  Sister,  but  you  are  attend 
ing  upon  a  sick  person.  We  understand  that  it  is  a 
woman.  May  I  not  ask  if  we  can  not  in  some  way 
assist  you  and  the  woman  ? ' 

"  A  faint  flush  swept  over  the  glorious  face  of  the 
Sister  Celeste  as  she  raised  her  eyes,  but  simply  and 
frankly,  and  with  a  slight  French  accent,  she 
answered  : 

'•'The  lady,  kind  sir,  is  very  ill.  Unless,  in  some 
way,  we  can  manage  to  remove  her  to  the  hospital, 
where  she  can  have  an  evenly  warmed  room  and  close 
nursing,  I  fear  she  will  not  live  ;  but  she  is  penniless 


l8o  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

and  we  are  very  poor,  and,  moreover,  I  do  not  see 
how  she  can  be  moved,  for  there  are  no  carriages.' 

"  She  spoke  with  perfect  distinctness,  notwithstand 
ing  the  slight  foreign  accent.  The  accent  was  no 
impediment ;  rather  from  her  lips  it  gave  her  words 
a  rhythm  like  music. 

"  The  man  raised  his  voice  :  '  Boys/  he  shouted, 
'  there  is  a  suffering  woman  up  the  street.  She  is 
very  destitute  and  very  ill,  and  must  be  removed  to 
the  hospital.  The  first  thing  required  is  some  money.' 
Then,  taking  off  his  hat  with  one  hand,  with  the  other 
he  took  from  his  pocket  a  twenty-dollar  piece,  put  the 
money  in  his  hat,  then  sprang  from  a  low  stump  that 
was  standing  by  the  trail  and  added  :  '  I  start  the 
subscription  ;  those  who  have  a  trifle  that  they  can 
spare  will  please  pass  around  this  way  and  droo  the 
trifle  into  the  hat.' 

"  Then  Sister  Celeste  had  a  new  experience.  In 
an  instant  she  was  surrounded  by  a  shouting,  surg 
ing,  struggly  crowd,  all  eager  to  contribute,  There 
was  a  Bable  of  voices,  but  for  once  a  California 
crowd  were  awakened  to  full  roar  without  an  oath 
being  heard.  The  boys  could  not  swear  in  the  pres 
ence  of  Sister  Celeste. 

"  In  a  few  minutes  between  seven  and  eight 
hundred  dollars  was  raised.  It  was  poured  out  of 
the  hat  into  a  buckskin  purse,  the  purse  was  tied,  and 
handed,  by  the  man  who  first  addressed  her,  to  Sister 
Celeste,  with  the  remark  that  it  was  for  her  poor,  and 
that  when  she  needed  more  the  boys  would  stand  in. 

"  Again  the  nun  raised  her  eyes  and  in  a  low  voice 
which  trembled  a  little,  she  said  : 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  l8l 

"  '  Please  salute  the  gentlemen  and  say  to  them 
that  God  will  keep  the  account.' 

"  The  man  turned  around  and  with  an  awkward 
laugh  said  :  '  Boys  !  I  am  authorized,  by  one  of  His 
angels,  to  say  that  for  your  contribution,  God  has 
taken  down  your  names,  and  given  you  credit.' 

"Then  a  wild  fellow  cried  out  from  the  crowd  . 

"  '  Three  cheers  for  the  Anorel  !' 

£j 

"  '  The  cheers  rang  out  like  the  braying  of  a  thou 
sand  trumpets  in  accord.  Then  in  a  hoarse  under 
tone  a  voice  shouted  '  Tiger  ! '  and  the  deep-toned, 
old-day  California  'Tiger'  rolled  up  the  hillsides  like 
an  ocean  roar.  It  would  have  startled  an  ordinary 
woman,  but  Sister  Celeste  was  looking  at  the  purse, 
and  it  is  doubtful  if  she  heard  it  at  all. 

"Then  the  first  speaker  called  from  the  crowd 
eight  men,  by  name  and  said  : 

"  'You  were  all  married  men  in  the  States  and  for 
all  that  I  know  to  the  contrary,  were  decent,  respect 
able  gentlemen.  As  master  of  ceremonies  I  delegate 
you,  as  there  are  no  carriages  in  this  camp,  to  go  to 
the  sick  woman's  house,  and  carry  her  to  the  hospital, 
while  the  good  Sister  proceeds  in  advance  and  makes 
a  place  for  her.' 

"  This  was  agreed  to,  and  the  Sister  was  told  that 
in  half  an  hour  she  might  expect  her  patient. 

"Then  she  hurried  away,  the  crowd  watching  her 
and  remarking  that  her  usual  stately  step  seemed 
greatly  quickened. 

"  Long  afterward,  the  Mother  Superior  related 
that,  when  Sister  Celeste  reached  the  hospital  on  that 
day,  she  fell  sobbing  into,  the  Mother's  arms,  and 


1 82  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

when  she  could  command  her  voice,  said  :  '  Those 
shaggy  men  that  I  thought  were  all  tigers  are  all 
angels  disguised.  O,  Mother,  I  have  seen  them  as 
Moses  and  Elias  were,  transfigured.' 

"  The  eight  men   held  a  brief  consultation  in  the 

o 

street,  then  going  to  a  store  they  bought  a  pair  of 
heavy  white  blankets,  an  umbrella  and  four  pick 
handles.  Borrowing  a  packer's  needle  and  some 
twine  they  began  to  sew  the  pick  handles  into  the 
sides  of  the  blanket,  first  rolling  the  handles  around 
once  or  twice  in  the  edges  of  the  blanket.  They  then 
proceeded  to  the  sick  woman's  house  ;  one  went  in 
first  and  told  the  sick  woman  gently,  what  they  had 
come  to  do,  and  bade  her  have  no  fears,  that  she  was 
to  be  moved  so  gently  that  if  she  would  close  her 
eyes  she  would  not  know  anything  about  it.  The 
others  were  called  in  ;  the  blanket  was  laid  upon  the 
floor  ;  the  bed  was  lifted  with  its  burden  from  the 
bedstead  and  laid  on  the  blanket  ;  the  covers  were 
neatly  tucked  under  the  mattress  ;  four  men  seized 
the  pickhandles  at  the  sides,  lifted  the  bed,  woman 
and  all  from  the  floor,  a  fifth  man  stepped  outside, 
raised  the  umbrella  and  held  it  above  the  woman's 
face,  and  so,  as  gently  as  ever  mother  rocked  her 
babe  to  sleep,  the  sick  woman  was  carried  the  whole 
length  of  the  street  to  the  hospital,  where  Sister 
Celeste  and  the  Mother  Superior  received  her. 

"  Then  all  hands  went  up  town  and  talked  the 
matter  over,  and  I  am  afraid  that  some  of  them 
drank  a  little,  but  the  burden  of  all  the  talk  and  all 
the  toasts,  was  Sister  Celeste. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  183 

"  After  that  the  nun  was  often  seen,  going  on  her 
errands  of  mercy,  and  it  is  true  that  some  men  who 
had  been  rough  and  who  had  drank  hard  for  months 
previous  to  the  coming  of  the  Sister,  grew  quiet  in 
their  lives  and  ceased  to  go  to  the  saloons. 

"  One  day  a  most  laughable  event  transpired. 
Two  men  got  quarreling  in  the  street  and  in  a 
moment  began  to  fight.  The  friends  of  the  respect 
ive  men  joined  and  soon  there  was  a  general  fight 
in  which  perhaps  thirty  men  were  engaged.  When  it 
was  at  its  height  (and  such  a  fight  meant  something) 
Sister  Celeste  suddenly  turned  the  sharp  bend  of  the 
street  and  came  into  full  view  not  sixty  yards  from 
where  the  melee  was  raging  in  full  fury. 

"One  of  the  fighters  saw  her  and  made  a  sound 
between  a  hiss  and  a  low  whistle,  a  peculiar  sound  of 
alarm  and  warning,  so  significant  that  all  looked  up. 

"  In  an  instant  the  men  clapped  then*  hands  into 
their  side  pockets,  and  commenced  moving  away, 
some  of  them  whistling  low  and  dancing  as  they 
went,  as  though  the  whole  thing  was  but  a  jovial 
lark.  When  Sister  Celeste  reached  the  spot  a 
moment  afterward,  the  street  was  entirely  clear.  The 
men  washed  their  faces,  some  wag  began  to  describe 
the  comical  scene  which  they  made  when  they  con 
cluded  that  the  street  under  certain  circumstances 
was  no  good  place  for  a  fight ;  good  humor  was 
restored,  the  chief  combatants  sliook  hands  with  per 
fect  cordiality,  a  drink  of  reconciliation  was  ordered 
all  around,  and  when  the  glasses  were  emptied,  a  man 
cried  out :  '  Fill  up  once  more,  boys.  I  want  you  to 
drink  with  me  the  health  of  the  only  capable  peace 


184  THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

officer  that  we  have  ever  had  in  town — Sister  Celeste.' 
The  health  was  drank  with  enthusiasm. 

"The  winter  came  on  at  length  and  there  was 
much  sickness,  Sister  Celeste  redoubled  her  exer 
tions  ;  she  was  seen  at  all  hours  of  the  day,  and  was 
met,  sometimes,  as  late  as  midnight,  returning  from 
her  watch  beside  a  sick-bed. 

"  The  town  was  full  of  rough  men  ;  some  of  them 
would  cut  or  shoot  at  a  word,  but  Sister  Celeste  never 
felt  afraid.  Indeed,  since  that  Sabbath  when  the  sub 
scription  was  taken  up  in  the  street,  she  had  felt  that 
nothing  sinister  could  ever  happen  to  her  in  that  place. 

"  Once,  however,  she  met  a  jolly  miner  who  had 
been  in  town  too  long,  and  who  had  started  for  home 
a  good  deal  the  worse  for  liquor.  She  met  hi  min  a 
lonely  place,  where  the  houses  had  been  a  few  days 
previous  burned  down  on  both  sides  of  the  street. 
Emboldenecf  by  rum,  the  man  stepped  directly  in 
front  of  the  nun  and  said  : 

" '  My  pretty  Sister,  I  will  give  your  hospital  a 
thousand  dollars  for  one  kiss.' 

"  The  Sister  never  wavered  ;  she  raised  her  calm 
and  undaunted  eyes  to  the  face  of  the  man,  an  incan 
descent  whiteness  warmed  upon  her  cheek,  giving  to 
her  striking  face  unwonted  splendor.  For  a  moment 
she  held  the  man  under  the  spell  of  her  eyes,  then 
stretching  her  right  arm  out  toward  the  sky,  slowly 
and  with  infinite  sadness  in  her  tones  said  : 

" '  If  your  mother  is  watching  from  there,  what 
will  she  think  of  her  son  ?' 

"  The  man  fell  on    his  knees,  crying  '  pardon,'  and 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  185 

Sister  Celeste,  with  her  accustomed  stately  step, 
passed  slowly  on  her  way. 

"  Next  day  an  envelope  directed  to  Sister  Celeste 
was  received  at  the  hospital.  Within  there  was 
nothing  but  a  certificate  of  deposit  from  a  local  bank 
for  one  thousand  dollars,  made  to  the  credit  of  the 
hospital. 

"  On  another  occasion  the  nun  had  a  still  harder 
trial  to  bear.  A  young  man  was  stricken  with 
typhoid  fever  and  sent  to  the  hospital.  He  was  a 
rich  and  handsome  man.  He  had  come  from  the 
East  only  a  few  weeks  before  he  was  taken  down. 
His  business  in  California  was  to  settle  the  estate  of 
an  uncle  recently  deceased,  who  had  left  a  large 
property. 

"  When  he  was  carried  to  the  hospital,  Sister 
Celeste  was  appointed  his  nurse.  The  fever  ran 
twenty-one  days,  and  when  it  left  him  finally,  he  lay 
helpless  as  a  child  and  hovering  on  the  very  thresh- 
hold  of  the  grave  for  days. 

"With  a  sick  man's  whim,  no  one  could  do  any 
thing  for  him  but  Sister  Celeste.  She  had  to  move 
him  on  his  pillows,  give  him  his  medicines  and  such 
food  as  he  could  bear.  In  lifting  him  her  arms  were 
very  often  around  him,  and  her  bosom  was  so  near 
his  breast  that  she  could  feel  the  throbbing  of  his 
heart. 

"  As  health  slowly  returned,  the  young  man 
watched  the  nurse  with  steadily  increasing  interest. 

"  At  length  the  time  came  when  the  physician  said 

hat   in   another  week    the  patient  would  require  no 

further  attendance,  but  that  he  ought,    so  soon    as 


1 86  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

possible,  to  go  to  the  seaside,  where  the  salt  air 
would  furnish  him  the  tonic  that  he  needed  most. 

"  When  the  physician  went  away  the  young  man 
said  :  '  Sister  Celeste,  sit  down  and  let  us  talk.'  She 
obeyed.  '  Let  me  hold  your  hand,'  he  said  ;  I  want 
o  tell  you  of  my  mother  and  my  home,  and  with  your 
hand  in  mine  it  will  seem  as  though  the  dear  ones 
there  were  by  my  side.'  She  gave  him  her  hand  in 
silence. 

"  Then  he  told  her  of  his  beautiful  home  in  the 
East ;  of  the  love  that  had  always  been  a  benediction 
to  that  home  ;  of  his  mother  and  little  sister,  of  their 
daily  life  and  their  unbroken  happiness. 

"  Insidiously  the  story  flowed  on  until  at  length  he 
said,  with  returning  health,  his  business  being  nearly 
all  arranged,  he  should  return  to  those  who  awaited, 
anxiously,  his  coming.  And  before  Sister  Celeste 
had  any  time  for  preparation  or  remonstrance  the 
young  man  added  : 

"  You  have  been  my  guardian  angel ;  you  have 
saved  my  life.  The  world  will  be  all  dark  without  you. 
You  can  serve  God  and  humanity  better  as  my  wife 
than  as  a  lowly  and  poor  Sister  here.  Some  woman 
have  higher  destinies  and  a  nobler  sphere  to  fill  on 
earth  than  as  Sisters  of  Charity ,  you  were  never 
meant  to  be  a  nun,  but  a  loving  wife.  Be  mine.  If 
it  is  the  poor  you  wish  to  serve,  a  thousand  shall  bless 
you  where  one  blesses  you  here  ;  but  come  with  me, 
filling  my  mother's  heart  with  joy  and  taking  your 
rightful  place  as  my  wife.  Be  my  guardian  angel  for 
ever  ! ' 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  187 

"  The  tace  of  Sister  Celeste  was  white  as  the  pillow 
on  which  her  hand  lay ;  for  a  moment  she  seemed 
choking,  while  about  her  lips  and  eyes  there  was  a 
tremulousness  as  though  she  was  about  to  break  into 
a  storm  of  uncontrollable  sobs.  But  she  rallied  under 
a  tremendous  effort  at  self-control,  gently  disengaged 
her  hand  from  the  hand  that  held  it,  rose  to  her  feet 
and  said  : 

"  I  ought  not  to  have  permitted  this ;  ought  not 
to  have  heard  what  you  said.  However,  we  must 
bear  our  cross.  I  do  not  belong  to  the  world.  But 
do  not  misjudge  me  ;  I  have  not  always  been  as  you 
see  me.  I  can  only  tell  you  this  :  To  a  woman  now 
and  then  there  comes  a  time  when  either  her  heart 
must  break  or  she  must  give  it  to  God.  I  have  given 
mine  to  him.  I  cannot  take  it  back.  I  would  not  if 
I  could. 

"  '  If  you  suffer  a  little  now,  you  will  forget  it  with 
returning  strength.  I  only  ask  that  you  when  you 
are  strong  and  well  and  far  away,  you  will  sometimes 
remember  that  the  world  is  full  of  heart  aches.  Com 
fort  as  many  as  you  can.  And  now,  God  bless  you, 
and  farewell.' 

"  She  laid  her  hand  a  moment  on  his  brow,  then 
drew  it  down  upon  his  cheek,  where  it  lingered  for  a 
moment  like  a  caress,  and  then  she  was  gone. 

"After  that  the  Mother  Superior  became  the  young 
man's  nurse  until  he  left  the  hospital.  He  tried  hard 
but  never  saw  Sister  Celeste  again.  While  he 
remained  in  the  place  she  ceased  to  appear  on  the 
street. 

"  Another  year  passed  by  and  Sister  Celeste  grew 


l88  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

steadily  in  the  love  of  the  people.  With  the  winter 
months  some  cases  of  smallpox  broke  out.  The 
country  was  new,  the  people  careless,  and  no 
particular  alarm  was  felt  until  the  breaking  out  of 
ten  cases  in  one  day  awakened  the  people  to  the  fact 
that  the  disease  prevailed  generally 

"  Sister  Celeste  labored  almost  without  rest,  night 
or  day,  until  the  violence  of  the  contagion  had 
passed  ;  then  she  was  stricken.  She  recovered,  but 
was  shockingly  marked  by  the  disease. 

"  She  was  in  a  darkened  room,  and  how  to  break 
to  her  the  news  of  her  disfigurement  was  a  matter  of 
sore  distress  to  the  other  nuns.  But  one  day,  to  a 
Sister  who  was  watching  by  her  bed-side,  she 
suddenly  said  : 

" '  I  am  almost  well  now,  Sister.  Throw  back  the 
blinds  and  bring  me  a  mirror,'  and,  with  a  gentle 
gayety  that  never  forsook  her  when  with  her  sister 
nuns,  she  added  :  '  It  is  time  that  I  began  to  admire 
myself.' 

"  The  nun  opened  the  blinds,  brought  the  glass, 
laid  it  upon  the  bed  and  sat  down  in  fear  and  trem 
bling. 

"Sister  Celeste,  without  glancing  at  the  mirror, 
laid  one  hand  upon  it,  and,  shading  her  eyes  with 
the  other  hand,  for  a  moment  was  absorbed  in  silent 
prayer.  Then  she  picked  up  the  glass  and  held  it 
before  h*er  face.  The  watching  nun,  hardly  breath 
ing,  and  in  an  agony  of  suspense,  waited.  After 
a  long,  earnest  look,  without  a  shade  passing  over 
her  face,  Sister  Celeste  laid  down  the  glass,  clasped 
her  hands  and  said:  'God  be  praised!  Now  all  is 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  189 

peace.     Never,  never  again  will  my   face  bring  sor 
row  to  my  heart.' 

"  The  waiting  nun  sank,  sobbing,  to  her  knees  ;  but 
as  she  did  so,  she  saw,  on  the  face  of  the  stricken 
woman,  a  smile  which  she  declared  was  as  sweet  as 
the  smile  of  God. 

•' '  With  the  return  of  health,  Sister  Celeste  again 
took  up  her  work  of  mercy,  and  for  a  few  months 
more  her  presence  was  a  benediction  to  the  place. 
At  last,  however,  it  began  to  be  noticed  that  her  pres 
ence  on  the  street  was  less  frequent  than  formerly, 
and  soon  an  unwelcome  rumor  began  to  circulate  that 
she  was  ill.  The  truth  of  this  was  soon  confirmed, 
and  then,  day  by  day,  for  some  weeks,  the  report  was 
that  she  was  growing  weaker  and  weaker,  and  finally, 
one  morning,  it  was  kn®wn  that  she  was  dead. 

"A  lady  of  the  place  who  was  greatly  attached  to 
Sister  Celeste,  because  of  that  attachment  and 
because  of  her  devotion  to  '  Mother  Church,'  was  per 
mitted  to  watch  through  the  last  hours  of  the  nun's 
life.  Of  the  closing  moments  of  the  glorified 
woman's  life  she  gave  the  following  account : 

"  For  an  hour  the  dying  nun  had  been  motionless, 
as  though  hushed  in  a  peaceful  sleep.  When  the 
first  rays  of  the  dawn  struck  on  the  window,  a  lark 
lighted  on  the  sill,  and  in  full  voice  warbled  its  greet 
ing  to  the  day.  Then  the  Sister  opened  her  eyes, 
already  fringed  by  the  death  frost,  and  in  faint  and 
broken  sentences  murmured  : 

"  '  A  delicious  vision  has  been  sent  me.  Deogratias, 
every  act  meant  in  kindness  that  I  have  ever  done,  in 
the  vision  had  become  a  flower,  giving  out  an  incense 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

ineffable.  These  had  been  woven  into  a  diadem  for 
me.  Every  word,  meant  in  comfort  or  sympathy,  that 
I  have  ever  spoken,  had  been  set  to  exquisite  music, 
which  voices  and  harps  not  of  this  world  were  singing 
and  playing  while  I  was  being  crowned.  Every  tear 
of  mine  shed  in  pity  had  become  a  precious  gem. 
These  were  woven  into  the  robes  of  light  that  they 
drew  around  me.  A  glass  was  held  before  me  ;  from 
face  and  bosom  the  cruel  scars  were  all  gone,  and  to 
eye  and  brow  and  cheek  the  luster  and  enchantment 
of  youth  had  returned,  and  near  all  radiant— 

"  The  eyes,  with  a  look  of  inexpressibly  joyous  sur 
prise  in  them,  grew  fixed,  and  all  was  still  save  where 
on  the  casement  the  lark  was  repeating  her  song. 

"Among  the  effects  left  by  Sister  Celeste  was 
found  a  package  addressed  to  the  same  lady  who  had 
watched  during  the  closing  hours  of  the  dead  nun's 
life.  This  was  brought  to  her  by  the  Mother  Superior. 
On  being  opened,  within  was  found  another  package, 
tied  with  silver  strings,  sealed  with  wax,  and  the  seal 
bore  the  date  on  which  she  took  her  vows.  This  in 
turn  was  opened,  and  a  large  double  locket  was 
revealed.  In  one  side  was  the  picture  of  a  young 
man  in  the  uniform  of  a  French  colonel.  From  the 
other  side  a  picture  had  evidently  been  hastily 
removed,  as  though  in  a  moment  of  excitement,  for 
there  were  scars  upon  the  case  which  had  been  made 
by  a  too  impetuous  use  of  some  sharp  instrument. 
On  the  outer  edge  of  the  case  was  a  half-round  hole, 
such  as  a  bullet  makes,  and  there  were  dark  stains  on 
one  side  of  the  case.  Below  the  picture  in  a  woman's 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  1 91 

delicate  handwriting,  were  the  words :  '  Henrie. 
Died  at  Magenta.' 

"  The  lady  called  the  Mother  Superior  aside  and 
showed  her  the  picture.  Tears  came  to  the  faded 
eyes  of  the  devoted  woman. 

"  '  Now  God  be  praised  !'  said  she.  '  Three  nights 
since,  as  I  watched  by  the  poor  child,  I  heard  her 
murmur  that  name  in  her  fevered  sleep,  and  I  was 
troubled,  for  I  feared  she  was  dreaming  of  the  youth 
she  nursed  back  to  life  here  in  the  hospital.  It  was 
not  so.  Her  work  was  finished  on  earth,  she  was 
nearing  the  spheres  where  love  never  brings  sorrow ; 
her  soul  was  already  outstretching  its  wings  to  join — ' 
the  poor  nun  stopped,  breathed  short  and  hard  a  few 
times,  and  then  incoherently  began  to  tell  her  beads 
in  Latin. 

"While  they  were  conversing,  the  body  of  Sister 
Celeste  lay  dressed  for  the  grave  in  another  apart 
ment,  watched  over  by  two  Sisters.  When  the 
Mother  Superior  ceased  speaking,  the  lady  said  to 
her: 

"  '  Mother,  come  with  me  to  where  Sister  Celeste 
is  sleeping !  When  we  reach  the  room,  send  the 
watchers  away,  and  then  do  not  look  at  me.  I  want 
to  put  this  picture  away.' 

"  The  Mother  Superior  was  strangely  agitated,  but 
she  led  the  way  to  the  room,  bade  the  nuns  there  go 
and  get  some  rest,  then  knelt  by  the  foot  of  the 
casket,  and  bowed  her  head  in  prayer. 

"The  lady  slipped  the  locked  beneath  the  folds  of 
the  winding  sheet,  where  it  lay  above  the  pulseless 
heart  of  the  dead  nun. 


1 92  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"The  whole  population  of  the  place  were  sorrow 
ing  mourners  at  the  obsequies  of  Sister  Celeste,  and 
for  years  afterward,  every  morning,  in  summer  and 
winter,  upon  her  grave,  a  dressing  of  fresh  flowers 
could  be  seen. 

"  On  the  day  of  the  funeral  the  miners  made  up  a 
purse  and  gave  it  to  Mrs.  De  Lacy,  the  consideration 
being  that  every  day  for  a  year,  the  grave  of  the  Sis 
ter  should  be  flower-crowned.  The  contract  was 
renewed  yearly  until  Mrs.  De  Lacy  moved  away.  In 
the  meantime  a  wild  rosebush  and  cypress  had  been 
planted  beside  the  grave,  and  they  keep  watch  there 
still." 

The  good-night  whistles  had  already  blown  when 
Harding  finished  his  story.  Not  much  was  said  as 
the  Club  retired,  but  Corrigan,  understanding  why 
the  story  had  been  told,  in  silence  wrung  Harding's 
hand. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Club  had  now  been  running  a  month.  It  had 
been  most  enjoyable.  When  Yap  Sing  had  been  in 
stalled  as  cook  and  housekeeper,  he  was  given  a 
memorandum  book  on  the  first  page  of  which  was 
written  an  order  for  such  supplies  as  the  Club  might 
require  at  the  stores  and  markets.  Brewster  had  ob 
jected  to  this  at  first,  inasmuch  as  the  Mongolian 
was  a  stranger,  and  because  it  was  not  good  to  make 
bills.  But  he  was  overruled  by  the  explanation  that 
almost  everything  required,  except  fresh  vegetables 
and,  now  and  then,  fresh  meat,  had  already  been  pro 
vided,  and  that  the  Chinaman  could  not  cheat  very 
much  with  seven  men  to  watch  him. 

But  from  the  first  day  the  Club  fared  sumptuously. 
Yap  Sing  was  a  thorough  artist  in  his  way.  He  had 
a  trick  of  preparing  substantiate  and  dainties,  and  of 
arranging  a  table,  which  was  wonderful.  His  break 
fasts  and  suppers  were  masterpieces,  and  daily  as  the 
dinner  buckets,  which  Yap  Sing  had  filled,  were 
opened  at  the  mines,  the  members  of  Club  were 
the  envy  of  all  the  men,  underground,  who  were  their 
companions.  It  was  a  change  from  the  boarding 
house,  so  delicious,  that  the  members  of  the  Club 
did  not  care  to  consider  what  the  probable  extra  ex 
pense  would  be.  Moreover,  each  had  a  feeling  that 
so  long  as  the  rest  were  satisfied  it  was  not  worth 


194  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

while  to  interrupt  the  pleasant  course  which  events 
were  taking  by  intruding  questions  which  possibly 
might  lead  to  unpleasant  developments. 

But  on  pay  day  the  bills  were  sent  in.  For  pro 
visions  and  crockery  they  amounted  to  more  than 
three  hundred  dollars,  or  about  one  dollar  and  a  half 
per  day  for  each  member  of  the  Club.  This  was  in 
addition  to  the  stock  of  food  purchased  at  the  begin 
ning. 

The  first  thought  was  that  Yap  Sing  had  been 
robbing  the  Club.  He  was  called  in,  confronted  with 
the  bills  and  questioned  as  to  what  he  had  to  say  to 
the  amount. 

He*  declared  it  to  be  his  belief  that  it  was  "  belly 
cheapee, " 

Miller  took  up  the  case  for  the  plaintiffs  and  said: 
"  But  Yap,  you  understand  when  you  came  here  a 
month  ago  we  had  plenty  of  provisions — flour,  butter, 
bacon,  lard,  tea,  coffee,  sugar — everything  required  ex 
cept  fresh  vegetables  and,  now  and  then,  fresh  meat." 

"  Yes,  me  sabbe;  got  plenty  now,  allee  samee,"  said 
Yap. 

"But  Yap"  said  Miller,  "  you  know  in  boarding- 
houses  and  restaurants  board  is  only  eight  dollars  a 
week.  Besides  what  you  had  at  the  beginning,  this 
is  costing  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  day  for  each  one  of  us. 
What  have  you  to  say  to  thta  ?  " 

"  Me  say  him  heap  cheapee,"  said  Yap.  "  Me  no 
care  for  bloading-housee  ;  me  no  care  for  lestaulant; 
me  heap  sabbeee  'em.  You  likee  'em,  you  bettel  go 
lare  eatee.  You  no  likee  oystel,  you  likee  hashee; 
you  no  likee  tlendeeloin,  you  likee  corn  beefee;  you 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  195 

no  likee  turkee,  you  likee  bull  beefee;  you  no  likee 
plum  puddee,  you  likee  dlied  apples;  all  litee,  me 
cooke  him;  me  no  care.  You  no  likee  bloiled  tonge, 
loast  chickee  and  devil  ham  for  dinner  bucket;  you 
likee  blead  and  onion;  all  litee,  me  fixee  him.  You 
wantee  one  d — d  cheapee  miners,  bloading-housee; 
all  litee,  no  clifflence  me." 

It  was  hard  to  argue  the  point  with  the  country 
man  of  Confucius.  Notwithstanding  th~  magnificent 
fare,  the  impression  was  general  that  Yap  Sing  had 
been  feeding  three  or  four  of  his  cousins  and  making 
a  little  private  pocket  change  for  himself  by  the 
transaction,  but  it  would  have  been  useless  to  try  to 
convict  him.  Indeed,  it  would  have  been  impossible, 
for  when  any  particularly  outrageous  item  was 
pointed  out  he  would  cite  some  special  occasion  when 
he  had  outdone  himself  in  his  art. 

"  What  a  timekeeper  he  would  make  for  a  mine  ! " 
said  Carlin.  "  He  would  have  his  pay-roll  full  every 
day  if  he  had  to  rob  a  graveyard  of  all  the  names  on 
its  monuments  to  fill  it." 

"  What  a  superintendent  he  would  make  !  "  said 
Miller.  "  There  would  not  be  an  item  in  the  monthly 
accounts  that  he  would  not  be  prepared  to  explain 
with  entire  satisfaction  and  apalling  promptness,  and 
all  the  time  he  would  have  looked  like  a  sorrowful 
statue  of  unappreciated  innocence." 

''What  a  mining  expert  he  would  be  !"  said  Ash 
ley.  "With  his  faculty  for  making  doubtful  things 
look  plausible,  and  his  powers  of  expression,  he 
would  convince  the  ordinary  man  that  he  could  sec 


1^6  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

further  into  the  ground  than  you  could  bore  with  a 
diamond  drill." 

"But  his  cooking  is  lovely  ;  you  must  all  admit 
that,"  said  Wright. 

"If  there  be  blame  anywhere,  it  rests  on  us,"  said 
Brewster,  "  for  we  could  all  see  that  we  were  living  a 
little  high,  and  yet  not  one  of  us  so  much  as  cau 
tioned  Yap  to  go  slow." 

It  was  finally  decided  that  there  must  be  a  return 
to  sound  and  economic  principles.  Yap  was  paid  his 
month's  salary  and  instructed  that  in  future,  the  fare 
must  be  reduced  to  plain,  solid  miners'  food.  The 
money  to  pay  all  the  bills,  together  with  what  was 
due  on  the  previous  month,  and  also  the  rent,  was 
contributed  and  placed  in  Miller's  hands  as  treasurer 
and  paymaster,  that  he  might  pay  the  accounts,  and 
the  Club  settled  down  to  its  pipes  and  conversation. 

In  the  meantime  the  honorary  members  had  come 
in.  As  usual,  the  first  theme  was  the  condition  of 
stocks.  Miller  believed  that  Silver  Hill  was  the  best 
buy  on  the  lode,  Corrigan  had  heard  that  day  that  a 
secret  drift  had  been  run  west  from  the  thirteen  hun 
dred  level  of  the  Con  Virginia  ;  that  up  in  the  Andes 
ground  an  immense  body  of  ore  had  been  cut  through 
jut  that  nothing  would  come  of  it  until  the  Bonanza  firm 
could  gather  in  more  of  the  stock.  Carlin  was  disposed 
to  believe  that  a  development  was  about  to  be  made  in 
Chollar  Potosi,  because  during  the  past  month  the 
superintendent  had  come  up  twice  from  Oakland, 
California  to  look  at  the  property.  Strong  was  dis 
posed  to  unload  all  the  stocks  that  he  had  and  invest  in 
Belcher  and  Crown  Point,  because  the  superintendent 


THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB.  197 

of  both  mines  had  that  day  assured  him  that  they 
had  no  developments  worth  mentioning. 

At  length  the  conversation  turned  on  silver.  The 
Club  members  had  that  day  received  a  portion  of 
their  month's  pay  in  silver,  and  some  grumbled,  think 
ing  they  should  have  received  their  full  wages  in 
gold.  After  a  good  deal  had  been  said,  the  Profes 
sor,  who  had  been  quietly  reading  and  had  taken  no 
part  in  the  discussion,  was  asked  for  his  opinion.  He 
answered  as  follows  : 

"  It  is  not  right  to  pay  laboring  men  in  a  deprecia 
ted  currency  ;  it  is  a  still  greater  wrong  that  there. is  a 
discount  on  silver.  It  is  the  steadiest  measure  of 
values  that  mankind  has  ever  found  ;  it  is  the  only 
metal  that  three-fifths  of  the  human  race  can  meas 
ure  their  daily  transactions  in  ;  its  full  adoption  by 
our  Government,  as  a  measure  of  values  and  basis  of 
money,  would  mean  prosperity  ;  its  rejection  during 
the  past  five  years  and  the  denial  to  it  of  its  old  sov 
ereignty,  have  wrought  incalcuable  loss. 

"  Here  on  the  Comstock  it  sleeps  in  the  same  mat 
rix  with  gold,  the  proportion  in  bullion  being  about 
forty-four  per  cent,  gold  to  fifty-six  per  cent,  silver. 
The  Nation  cannot  make  a  better  adjustment  than  to 
keep  that  proportion  good  in  her  securities.  Five 
years  ago  silver  commanded  a  premium  over  gold. 
Since  then  two  dollars  in  gold  to  one  in  silver  have 
been  taken  from  the  earth,  but  silver  is  at  a  discount, 
because  through  unwise  if  not  dishonest  legislation, 
its  sovereignty  as  a  measure  of  values,  its  recognition 
as  money,  was  taken  away.  The  whole  burden  was 
put  upon  gold,  and  the  result  is  that  the  purchasing 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

power  of  gold  has  been  enhanced,  and  silver  is,  or 
seems  to  be,  at  a  discount.  Those  who  have  accom 
plished  this  wrong  affect  to  scorn  the  proposition  that 
legislation  could  restore  to  silver  its  old  value,  ignor 
ing  the  fact  that  the  present  apparent  depreciation  is 
due  entirely  to  unfriendly  legislation,  and  conven 
iently  forgetting  that  with  silver,  everything  else  is  at 
a  discount  when  measured  by  gold.  That  is,  gold  is 
inflated  by  the  discriminations  which  have  been  made 
in  its  favor.  The  chief  use  of  silver  in  the  world  is 
for  a  measure  of  values,  as  the  chief  use  of  wheat  is 
for  material  out  of  which  to  make  bread.  Were  men 
forbidden  to  make  any  more  bread  from  wheaten  flour 
and  compelled  to  use  corn  meal  as  a  substitute,  would 
the  present  prices  of  wheat  and  corn  remain  respect 
ively  the  same  ? 

"  Silver  should  be  restored  to  its  old  full  sover 
eignty,  side  by  side  with  gold.  Then,  in  this  country, 
just  as  little  of  either  metal  as  possible  should  be  used 
in  men's  daily  transactions.  Handling  gold  and  silver 
directly  in  trade  is  but  continuing  the  barter  of  savage 
men,  and  is  a  relic  of  a  dark  age.  Moreover,  the  loss 
by  abrasion  is  very  great.  Both  metals  should  be  cast 
into  ingots  and  their  values  stamped  upon  them.  Then 
they  should  be  stored  in  the  Treasury  and  certificates 
representing  their  value  should  be  issed  as  the  money 
of  the  people.  If  this  makes  the  Government  a 
banker  no  matter,  so  long  as  it  supplies  to  the  people 
a  money  on  which  there  can  be  no  loss.  The  thought 
that  this  would  drain  our  land  of  gold  has  not  much 
force,  because  the  trade  balances  are  coming  our  way 
and  will  soon  be  very  heavy  ;  if  the  gold  be  taken 


THE    COM  STOCK    CLUB.  199 

away  something  will  have  to  be  returned  in  lieu  of  it, 
and  after  all  the  truth  is  that  four-fifths  of  our  people 
do  not  see  a  gold  piece  twice  a  year.  Our  internal 
commerce  is  very  much  greater  than  our  foreign  com 
merce,  and  to  keep  that  moving  without  jar  should 
be  the  first  anxiety  of  American  statesmen.  For  that 
purpose  nothing  could  be  better  than  the  silver  cer 
tificate. 

"The  Government  has  commenced  to  coin  silver 
and  has  partially  remonetized  it.  This  remonetiza- 
tion  is  only  partial  because  gold  is  still  made  the 
absolute  measure  of  values,  and  preference  is  reserved 
for  it  in  ways  which  will  keep  silver  depressed  until 
there  shall  come  a  demand  for  it  which  cannot  at 
once  be  met ;  then  it  will  be  discovered  that  it  is  still 
one  of  the  precious  metals,  and  it  will  take  its  place  in 
trade  as  it  has  its  place  here  in  the  mines,  side  by  side 
and  the  full  brother  of  gold.  Were  the  Government 
to-morrow  to  commence  to  absorb  and  hoard  all  the 
product  of  our  mines  and  keep  this  up  for  a  genera 
tion,  issuing  certificates  on  the  same  for  the  full  value, 
at  the  end  of  about  thirty  years  there  would  be  on 
deposit  as  security  for  the  paper  afloat  more  than  one 
thousand  millions  of  dollars.  This  seems  like  a  vast 
sum,  but  it  would  then  amount  to  but  ten  dollars  per 
capita  for  our  people.  You  have  each  received  two 
a  half  times  that  amount  to-day  on  acconnt  of  your 
last  month's  wages,  and  the  only  serious  inconvenience 
it  has  inflicted  upon  you  is  the  discount  which  wicked 
legislation  has  given  to  silver. 

"  But  long  before  one  thousand  millions  in  silver 
could  be  secured  it  would  command  a  premium, 


20O  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

because  that  would  mean  one-fourth  of  all  the  silver 
in  circulation,  and  this  old  world  cannot  spare  to  one 
nation  that  amount  and  still  keep  her  commerce  run 
ning  and  the  arts  supplied." 

"  But,  Professor,"  said  Alex.,  "  why  hoard  the 
metals  ?  Why  may  not  money  be  represented  by 
paper  backed  by  the  Nation's  faith?  Why  pile  up 
the  metals  in  the  Government  vaults  when  the  print 
ing  press  can  supply  as  good  money  as  the  people 
want  ? " 

"  That,"  replied  the  Professor,  "  is  an  argument 
for  times  of  peace  and  prosperity  only.  The  failure 
of  one  crop  would  so  lessen  the  faith  of  the  people 
that  a  serious  discount  would  fall  upon  the  money 
that  was  only  backed  by  faith.  And  suppose  Europe 
were  to  combine  to  fight  the  United  States,  then 
what  would  the  loss  be  to  the  people  ?  We  can  only 
estimate  the  amount  by  thinking  what  the  United 
States  currency  was  worth  in  1864. 

"Such  a  combination  is  not  at  all  impossible. 
There  is  a  vast  country  to  the  south  of  us,  the  trade 
of  which  should  be  ours,  and  with  the  Governments 
of  which  we  have  notified  Europe  there  must  be  no 
interference  from  beyond  the  Atlantic.  There  are 
channels  for  ships  to  be  hewed  through  the  Span 
ish  American  Isthmus,  and  their  control  is  to  become 
a  question. 

"  Above  all,  the  light  and  majesty  of  our  Republic 
are  becoming  a  terror  to  the  Old  World.  Think  of 
it!  The  immigrants  that  come  to  us  annually, 
together  with  the  young  men  and  women  that 
annually  reach  their  majority  here,  are  enough  to 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  2OI 

supply  the  places  of  all  the  people  of  this  coast  were 
they  to  go  away.  Who  can  estimate  the  swelling 
strength  that  is  sufficient  to  fully  equip  a  new  State 
annually  ? 

'•  Before  the  spectacle  thrones  are  toppling  and 
Kings  sleep  on  pillows  of  thorns.  If  our  soil  was 
adjacent  to  Europe,  the  nations  would  combine  and 
assail  us  to-morrow,  in  sheer  self-defense.  They  have 
tremendous  armies ;  they  are  accumulating  mighty 
navies  and  arming  them  as  ships  were  never  armed 
before.  Suppose  that  some  time  they  decide  that  the 
world's  equilibrium  is  being  disturbed  by  the  Great 
Republic,  even  as  they  did  when  Napoleon  the  First 
became  their  terror,  and  that,  as  with  him,  they  deter 
mine  that  our  country  shall  be  divided  or  crushed. 
What  then  ?  Of  course  they  will  maneuver  to  have 
a  rebellion  in  our  country  and  espouse  the  cause  of 
the  weaker  side.  This  is  what  nearly  happened  in 
1862  ;  what  would  have  surely  happened  had  not 
Great  Britain  possessed  the  knowledge  that  if  she 
joined  with  France  in  the  proposed  scheme,  whatever 
the  outcome  might  be,  one  thing  was  certain ;  for  a 
season  at  least,  there  would  be  no  night  on  the  sea ; 
the  light  made  by  British  ships  in  flames  would  make 
perpetual  day. 

"  Then  ocean  commerce  was  carried  mostly  in 
ships  that  had  to  trust  alone  to  the  fickle  winds  for 
headway.  In  twenty  years  more  steam  will  be  the 
motive  power  for  carrying  all  valuable  freights,  and 
will  be  comparatively  safe  as  against  pursuing 
cruisers. 


2O2  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUIi. 

"  Imagine  such  a  crisis  upon  us.  What  then  would 
the  unsupported  paper  dollar  be  worth  ?  But  imag 
ine  that  behind  the  Republic  there  was  in  the 
treasury  a  thousand  millions  of  dollars  in  silver, 
the  original  money  of  the  world,  and  another  thou 
sand  millions  in  gold,  what  combination  of  forces 
could  place  the  money  of  the  Nation  in  danger  of 
loss  by  depreciation  ? 

"  Gold  and  silver  when  produced  are  simply  the 
measures  of  the  labor  required  to  produce  them  ; 
they  are  labor  made  imperishable ;  and  when  either 
is  destroyed— and  demonetization  is  destruction — 
just  so  much  labor  is  destroyed,  and  you  who  work 
have  to  make  up  the  loss  by  working  moie  hours  for 
a  dollar.  You  are  supposed  to  receive  the  same 
wages  as  the  miners  who  worked  on  this  lode  six 
years  ago  for  a  month's  work.  But  you  do  not, 
because,  through  the  mistake  of  honest  men  or  the 
manipulation  of  knaves,  twenty  per  cent,  of  the 
twenty-five  dollars  paid  you  in  silver  for  last  month's 
\york  has  been  destroyed  ;  and  now  those  who  have 
dea-lt  this  blow  insist  that  money  can  in  no  wise  be 
changed  in  value  by  legislation. 

"  The  trouble  is  our  law-makers  do  not  estimate  at 
half  its  worth  their  own  country.  They  stand  in  awe 
of  what  they  call  the  money  centers  of  the  world,  and 
refuse  to  see  that  already  the  world  is  placed  at  a  dis 
advantage  by  our  Republic  ;  that  within  thirty  years 
all  existing  nations,  all  the  nations  that  have  existed 
through  all  the  long  watches  of  the  past,  will,  in 
material  wealth  and  strength,  seem  mean  and  poor 
in  comparison  with  our  own. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  203 

"  Look  at  it !      Five  hundred  thousand  foreigners 

o 

absorbed  annually,  and  not  a  ripple  made  where  they 
merge  with  the  mighty  current  of  our  people  !  What 
is  equal  to  a  new  State,  with  all  its  people  and  equip 
ments,  launched  upon  the  Union  every  year — it 
makes  me  think  of  the  Creator  launching  worlds ; 
with  immeasurable  resources  yet  to  be  utilized  ;  the 
wealth  of  the  country  already  equal  to  that  of  Great 
Britain,  with  all  her  twelve  hundred  years  of  spoils  ; 
all  our  earnings  our  own  ;  no  five  millions  of  people 
toiling  to  support  another  million  that  stand  on 
guard,  as  is  required  in  France  and  Germany  and 
Russia  and  Austria  and  Italy  ;  our  great  Southern 
staple  commanding  tribute  from  all  the  world  ;  hun 
gry  Europe  looking  to  our  Northern  States  for  meat 
and  bread  ;  and  to  our  rivers  for  fish  ;  our  Western 
miners  supplying  to  business  the  tonic  which  keeps 
its  every  artery  throbbing  with  buoyant  health,  while 
over  all  is  our  flag,  which  symbols  a  sovereignty  so 
awful  in  power  and  yet  so  beneficent  in  mercies  that 
while  the  laws  command  and  protect,  they  bring  no 
friction  in  their  contact  ;  rather  they  guarantee  the 
perfect  liberty  of  every  child  of  the  Republic,  to 
seize  with  equal  hand  upon  every  opportunity  for  for 
tune,  or  for  fame,  which  our  country  holds  within  her 
august  grasp. 

"  To  carry  on  the  business  of  such  a  land  an  ocean 
of  money  is  needed,  and  infinitely  more  will  be 
required  in  future.  And  for  this  money  there 
must  be  a  solid  basis  ;  not  merely  a  faith  which 
expands  with  this  year's  prosperity  and  contracts  with 
next  year's  calamity  ;  not  something  which  the  death 


2O4  THE    COMSTOCK    CLU1J, 

of  a  millionaire  or  a  visitation  of  grasshoppers  will 
throw  down  ;  but  something  which  is  the  first-born 
child  of  labor,  and  is  therefore  immortal  and  without 
change.  This  is  represented  by  gold  and  silver  and 
to  commerce  they  are  what  '  the  great  twin  brethen  ' 
at  Lake  Regillus  were  to  Rome." 

When  the  Professor  ceased  speaking,  Harding 
said  :  "  Professor,  what  you  have  been  saying  about 
our  Repuplic  sounds  to  me  almost  like  a  coincidence. 
Did  you  ever  dream  what  you  have  been  saying  ?  " 

The  Professor  replied  that  he  did  not,  and  asked 
what  in  the  world  prompted  such  a  question. 

Harding  smiled  and  blushed,  and  then  said : 
"  Because  I  had  a  dream  last  night." 

All  wanted  to  hear  what  it  was. 

"  You  won't  laugh,  Carlin  ?  "  said  Harding. 

Carlin  said  he  would  not. 

"  And  you  will  not  call  me  a  fool,  Wright  ?"  Hard 
ing  asked. 

Wright  promised  to  conceal  his  sentiments,  if  nec 
essary. 

"You  will  not  call  it  a  mirage,  Corrigan  ? "  asked 
Harding. 

Corrigan  agreed  to  refrain. 

"  And,  Colonel,  you  will  not  ask  mysterious  ques 
tions  about  who  usually  sits  as  a  commission  of  lun 
acy  in  Virginia  City  ?"  Harding  inquired. 

The  Colonel  agreed  to  restrain  himself. 

"  And,  Alex.,  you  will  not  expose  me  in  the 
paper  ?"  questioned  Harding. 

Alex,  promised  to  be  merciful  to  the  public. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  205 

In  final  appeal,  Harding  said  :  "  And  you  Professor, 
you  will  not  say  it  is  a  tough,  hard  formation,  and  too 
nearly  primitive  to  carry  any  treasure?" 

The  Professor  assured  him  that  faults  and  displace 
ments  were  common  in  the  richest  mineral-bearing 
veins. 

"  Well,"  said  Harding,  I  was  tired  and  nervous 
last  night.  I  could  not  sleep,  and  so  determined  to 
get  up  and  read  for  an  hour.  I  happened  to  pick  up  a 
volume  of  Roman  history,  and  became  so  absorbed  in 
it  that  I  read  for  an  hour  or  two  more  than  1  ought  to. 
I  went  to  bed  at  last  and  my  body  dropped  to  sleep  in 
a  moment,  but  my  brain  was  still  half  awake,  and  for 
a  while  ran  things  on  its  own  account  in  a  confused 
sort  of  a  way. 

"  I  thought  I  was  sitting  here  alone,  when  sud 
denly,  a  stranger  appeared  and  began  to  pace,  slowly, 
up  and  down  the  room.  He  had  an  eye  like  a  hawk, 
nose  like  an  eagle's  beak,  and  an  air  that  was  alto 
gether  martial.  His  walk  had  the  perfect  measured 
step  of  the  trained  veteran  soldier.  After  watching 
him  for  a  little  space,  I  grew  bold  and  demanded  of 
him  his  name  and  business.  When  I  spoke  the  sound 
of  my  own  voice  startled  me,  for  he  was  more  savage 
looking  than  a  shift  boss.  He  turned  round  to  me — 
don't  laugh,  I  pray  you — and  said  : 

"  '  I  am  that  Scipio  to  whom  Hannibal  the  terrible 
capitulated.  I  was  proud  of  my  Rome  and  my 
Romans.  We  were  the  "  Iron  Nation,"  truly.  All  that 
human  valor  and  human  endurance  could  do  we 
accomplished.  Amid  the  snows  of  the  Alps  and  the 
sands  of  Africa  we  were  alike  invincible.  We  were 


2O6  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

not  deficient,  either,  in  brain  power.  We  left  monu 
ments  enough  to  abundantly  establish  that  fact.  To 
us  the  whole  civilized  world  yielded  fealty,  but  we 
were  barbarians,  after  all.  Listen  ! ' 

"  Just  then  there  floated  in  through  the  open  win 
dow  what  seemed  a  full  diapason  of  far-off  but 
exquisite  music. 

"  '  Do  you  know  what  that  is  ?'  he  asked.  '  It  is  the 
echo  of  the  melody  which  the  children  of  fhis  Repub 
lic  awaken,  singing  in  their  free  schools.  It  smites 
upon  and  charms  the  ear  of  the  sentinel  angel,  whose 
station  is  in  the  sun,  through  one-eighth  of  his  daily 
round  ;  those  echoes  that  with  an  enchantment  all 
their  own  ride  on  the  swift  pinions  of  the  hours  over 
all  the  three  thousand  miles  between  the  seas. 

"  '  My  Rome  had  nothing  like  that.  We  trusted 
alone  to  the  law  of  might,  and  though  we  tried  to  be 
just,  the  slave  was  chained  daily  at  our  gates  ;  we  sold 
into  slavery  our  captives  taken  in  war  ;  we  fought 
gladiators  and  wild  beasts  for  the  amusement  of  our 
daughters  and  wives  •  we  never  learned  to  temper 

o  i. 

justice  with  mercy  ;  only  the  first  leaves  of  the  book 
of  knowledge  were  opened  to  us  ;  our  brains  and  our 
bodies  were  disciplined,  but  our  hearts  were  darkened 
and  we  perished  because  we  were  no  longer  fit  to  rule. 
"'Whether  by  evolution  the  world  has  advanced, 
or  whether,  indeed,  the  lessons  of  that  Nazarene, 
whom  our  soldiers  crucified,  are  bearing  celestial  fruit, 
who  knows!  But  surely  our  Rome,  with  all  its  power, 
all  its  splendor,  all  its  heroic  men  and  stately  women  ; 
its  victories  in  the  field,  its  pageants  in  the  Imperial 
City  on  the  days  when,  returning  from  a  conquest, 


THE    COM  STOCK    CLUB. 

our  chieftains  were  laurel-crowned  ;  our  art,  our  elo 
quence — all,  were  nothing  compared  with  this  song 
of  songs.  It  started  at  first  where  the  sullen  waves 
wash  against  Plymouth  Rock;  it  swelled  in  volume 
while  th<  deep  woods  gave  place  to  smiling  fields  ; 
over  mountain  and  desert  it  rolled  in  full  tones  and 
only  cease  at  last,  where  the  roar  of  the  deep  sea, 
breaking  outside  the  Golden  Gate,  or  meeting  in 
everlasting  anger  the  Oregon  upon  her  stormy  bar, 
gives  notice  that  the  pioneer  must  halt  at  last  in  his 
westward  march.' 

"  As  he  ceased  to  speak  the  melody  was  heard 
again,  sweeter,  clearer  and  fuller  than  before.  My 
guest  faded  away  before  me  and  I  awoke.  In  all  the 
air  there  was  no  sound  save  the  deep  respirations  of 
the  hoisting  engine  in  the  Norcross  works,  and  the 
murmur  of  the  winds,  as  on  slow,  beating  wings  they 
floated  up  over  the  Divide  and  swept  on,  out  over  the 
desert." 

The  verdict  of  the  Club  was  that  if  old  Scipio 
talked  in  that  strain  he  had  softened  down  immensely 
since  the  days  when  he  was  setting  his  legions  in  array 
against  the  swarthy  host  of  the  mighty  Carthagenian. 

After  a  while  Corrigan  spoke:  "  You  native  Amer 
icans,"  he  said  "at  least  the  majority  of  yez,  do  not 
half  appreciate  your  counthry.  I  was  but  a  lad  whin, 
after  a  winter  of  half  starvation,  in  the  care  of  an 
uncle,  I  lift  Ireland  in  an  English  imigrant  ship. 
One  mornin'  as  me  uncle  and  mesilf  were  watchin' 
from  the  deck  a  sail  rose  out  of  the  say  directly  in 
our  path.  It  grew  larger  and  larger;  in  a  little  while 
the  hull  appeared,  and  soon  after  we  could  discern 


2O8  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

that  it  was  a  frigate.  The  wind  was  off  her  beam, 
blowin'  fresh;  every  sail  was  crowded  on,  and  as  her 
black  beak  rose  and  fell  with  the  says,  I  thought  her 
more  beautiful  than  the  smile  of  the  sunlight  on  the 
hills  of  Kildare.  Half  careened  as  she  was  under  the 
pressure  on  her  sails,  but  still  resolutely  rushing  on, 
she  made  a  picture  of  courage  which  has  shone  before 
me  eyes  a  thousand  times  since,  when  me  heart  has 
been  heavy.  She  drew  quite  near,  and  as  she  swung 
up  her  tack  her  flag  was  dipped  in  salute,  Then 
me  uncle  bent  and  said:  "  Barney,  lad,  mark  will  that 
flag!  That  is  an  Amerian  ship  of  war." 

"  Great  God!  Child  that  I  was,  I  think  in  that  mo 
ment  I  knew  how  the  young  mother  feels,  when  in 
the  curtained  dimness  of  her  room,  she  half  fainting, 
hears  the  blissful  whisper  that  unto  her  is  born  a  son. 

There  was  the  ensign  of  the  land  which  held  all 
joy  in  thought  for  us;  which  to  us  opened  the  gates  of 
hope;  that  wondrous  land  in  the  air  of  which  the 
pallid  cheek  of  Want  grows  rosy  red  and  Irish  hearts 
cast  off  hereditary  despair. 

"  I  rushed  forward,  where  thray  hundred  imigrants 
were  listlessly  lounging  about  the  deck,  and,  in  mad 
excitement,  shouted:  See!  See!  It  is  the  American 
fiag!"  Just  then  the  sunlight  caught  in  its  folds  and 
turned  it  to  gold. 

'•O,  but  thin  there  was  a  transformation  scane. 
Ivery  person  on  that  deck  sprang  up  and  shouted. 
Men  waved  their  hats  and  women  embraced  each 
other,  and  with  a  mighty  "  All  Hail"  those  Irish  immi 
grants — Irish  no  longer,  but  henceforth  forever  to  be 
Americans — greeted  that  flag.  In  response  the  ma- 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

rines  manned  the  yards,  and  off  to  us  across  the 
wathers  come  the  first  ringing  American  chare  that 
we  had  iver  heard.  We  answered  back  with  a  yell  like 
that  which  might  have  been  awakened  at  Babel.  It 
was  not  a  disciplined  chare,  but  simply  a  wild  cry  of 
joy,  and  it  was  none  the  less  hearty  that  over  us 
swung  haughtily  the  red  cross  of  St.  George. 

"You  native  Americans  are  like  spiled  children, 
that  niver  having  known  an  unsatisfied  want,  surfeit 
on  dainties." 

Corrigan  relapsed  into  silence,  but  his  eyes  were 
glistening  and  there  was  a  tremble  about  his  lips. 
His  mind  was  still  in  the  burial  place,  where  "mem 
ory  was  calling  up  its  dead." 

While  the  spell  of  Barney's  words  were  still  upon 
the  Club,  Yap  Sing  softly  opened  the  door  and 
announced  that  the  evening  luncheon  was  ready. 
The  heathen  had  inaugurated  these  luncheons  on  the 

o 

first  day  of  his  coming.  They  were  at  once  accepted 
and  had  become  a  regular  thing.  Seeing  that  they 
were  received  approvingly,  Yap  had  exhausted 
every  device  to  make  them  a  marked  feature  of  the 
Club. 

On  this  occasion  the  table  was  fully  set,  but  there 
was  no  food  on  the  table.  Beside  each  plate  stood  a 
glass  of  water  and  a  dish  of  salt.  When  the  company 
was  seated,  Yap  went  to  the  cooking  range,  took  out 
and  set  upon  the  table  an  immense  platter  which  was 
piled  high  with  huge  baked  potatoes,  after  which, 
with  a  face  utterly  destitute  of  expression,  he  went 
to  his  bench  in  the  corner  of  the  room  and  sat  down, 


210  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

Wright,  who  was  nearest  him,  said  :  "  What  is  the 
matter,  Yap  ?  Are  you  sick  ?  " 

"  Nothing  matter  ;  me  no  sickee,"  said  Yap. 

"  But  why  do  you  not  bring  on  the  supper  ?  "  asked 
Wright. 

"  No  catchee  any  more,"  was  the  answer. 

"What!  Just  potatoes  straight,  Yap  ?  What  is 
the  matter  ?  "  said  Wright. 

"  Me  no  sabbee  what's  the  matter,"  said  the  sullen 
Oriental.  "You  livee  belly  cheapee  now.  Potato 
belly  good.  Plenty  potato,  plenty  saltee,  plenty  cold 
watee  ;  no  makee  you  sickee  :  I  tink  belly  good." 

The  Club  took  in  the  situation  with  great  hilarity  ; 
the  cause  of  Yap  Sing's  frugality  was  briefly 
explained  to  the  guests  ;  each  seized  a  potato  and 
commenced  his  meal. 

At  length  Carlin  asked  Yap  Sing  if  he  could  not 
furnish  a  little  butter  with  the  salt.  Yap  shook  his 
had  resolutely,  and  said  : 

"  No  catchee.  Buttee  five  bittee  (sixty-two  and  a 
half  cents)  one  pound.  No  buy  buttee  for  five  bit- 
tee  to  putee  on  potato  ;  too  muchee  money  allee  time 
pay  out  for  hashee." 

Then  Ashley  asked  for  a  pickle,  but  Yap  Sing  was 
firm.  Said  he  :  "  Pickle  slix  bittee  one  bottle,  no 
can  standee." 

A  great  many  other  things  were  banteringly  asked 
for,  from  cold  tongue  and  horse-radish  to  blackberry 
jam  ;  but  the  imperturbable  face  of  the  Mongolian 
never  relaxed  and  his  ears  remained  deaf  to  all 
entreaties. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  2  I  I 

The'potatoes  were  eaten  with  decided  relish;  though 
there  was  no  seasoning  except  salt,  and  when  the 
repast  was  over  the  Club  still  sat  at  the  table  while 
the  Colonel  delivered  a  dissertation  upon  the  virtues 
of  the  potato  in  general  and  upon  the-  Nevada 
potato  in  particular.  He  insisted  that  the  potato 
was  the  great  modern  mind  food,  and  instanced  the 
effect  of  potato  diet  upon  the  people  of  Ireland, 
pointing  out  that  the  failure  of  a  crop  there  meant 
mental  prostration  and  despair,  while  the  news  of  a 
bountiful  crop  was  a  certain  sign  of  a  lively  revolu 
tion  within  a  year.  From  a  scientific  standpoint  he 
demonstrated  that  nowhere  else  on  the  continent 
were  the  conditions  absolutely  perfect  for  producing 
potatoes  that  were  potatoes,  except  upon  high,  dry, 
slightly  alkaline  table  lands  between  the  Sierras  and 
the  Wasatch  range,  and,  giving  his  lively  imagination 
full  play,  he  pictured  that  region  as  it  would  be  fifty 
years  hence  ;  when  transportation  shall  be  cheapened 
when  artesian  wells  shall  be  plenty  ;  when  the  rich 
men  of  the  earth  will  not  be  able  to  give  entertain 
ments  without  presenting  their  guests  with  Nevada 
and  Utah  potatoes,  and  when  to  say  that  a  man  has 
a  potato  estate  in  the  desert  will  be  as  it  now  is  to 
say  that  a  man  has  a  wheat  farm  in  Dakota,  an 
orange  orchard  at  Los  Angeles,  or  a  cotton  planta 
tion  in  Texas. 

While  talking  the  Colon  el  managed,  between  sen 
tences,  to  dispose  of  the  second  potato. 

When  the  pipes  were  resumed,  the  joke  of  Yap 
Sing  was  fully  discussed,  and  finally  the  Chinese 
question  came  up  for  consideration. 


212  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

Strong  took  up  this  latter  theme  and  said  : 
"The  men  of  the  Eastern  States  think  that  we  of 
the  West  are  a  cruel,  half-barbarous  race,  because  we 
look  with  distrust  upon  the  swelling  hosts  of  Mon 
golians  that  are  swarming  like  locusts  upon  this  coast. 
They  say  :  '  Our  land  has  ever  been  open  to  the 
oppressed,  no  matter  in  what  guise  they  come.  The 
men  of  the  West  are  the  first  to  stretch  bars  across 
the  Golden  Gate  to  keep  out  a  people.  And  this 
people  are  peaceable  and  industrious  ;  all  they  petition 
for  is  to  come  in  and  work.  Still,  there  is  a  cry 
which  swells  into  passionate  invective  against  them. 
It  must  be  the  cry  of  barbarism  and  ignorance.  It 
surely  fairly  reeks  with  injustice  and  cruelty  and  sets 
aside  a  fundamental  principle  of  our  Government 
which  dedicates  our  land  to  freedom  and  opens  all  its 
gates  to  honest  endeavor.' 

"  Those  people  will  not  stop  to  think  that  we 
came  here  from  among  themselves.  We  were  no 
more  ignorant,  we  were  no  worse  than  they  when  we 
came  away.  We  have  had  better  wages  and  better 
food  since  our  coming  than  the  ordinary  men  of  the 
East  obtain.  Almost  all  of  us  have  dreamed  of 
homes,  of  wives  and  children  that  are  men's  right  to 
possess,  but  which  are  not  for  us ;  and  though  they 
of  the  East  do  not  know  it,  this  experience  has  soft 
ened,  not  hardened  our  hearts  toward  the  weak  and 
the  oppressed.  If  they  of  the  East  would  reflect 
they  would  have  to  conclude  that  it  is  not  avarice  that 
moves  us  ;  that  there  must  be  a  less  ungenerous  and 
a  deeper  reason. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  213 

"Our  only  comfort  is,  that,  by  and  by,  maybe 
while  some  of  us  still  live,  those  men  and  women 
who  now  upbraid  us,  will,  with  their  souls,  on  their 
knees,  ask  pardon  for  so  misjudging  us. 

"  We  quarantine  ships  when  a  contagion  is  raging 
among  her  crew  ;  we  frame  protective  laws  to  hold 
the  price  of  labor  np  to  living  American  rates ;  New 
England  approves  these  precautions,  but  when  we 
ask  to  have  the  same  rules,  in  another  form,  enforced 
upon  our  coast,  her  people  and  her  statesmen,  in 
scorn  and  wrath,  declare  that  we  are  monsters. 

"  There  is  Yap  Sing  in  the  kitchen.  You  have 
just  paid  him  forty  dollars  for  a  month's  work.  All 
the  clothes  that  he  wears  were  made  in  China.  If  he 
boarded  himself,  as  nearly  as  possible  he  would  eat 
only  the  food  sent  here  from  China.  Of  his  forty 
dollars  just  received,  thirty  at  least  will  be  returned 
to  China  and  be  absorbed  there.  There  are  one 
hundred  thousand  of  his  people  in  this  State  and  Cal 
ifornia.  We  will  suppose  that  they  save  only  thirty 
cents  each  per  day.  That  means,  for  all,  nine  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  per  month,  or  more  than  ten 
million  dollars  per  annum  that  they  send  away.  This 
is  the  drain  which  two  States  with  less  than  one 
million  inhabitants  are  annually  subjected  to.  How 
long  would  Massachusetts  bear  a  similar  drain,  before, 
through  all  her  length  and  breadth,  her  cities  would 
blaze  with  riots,  all  her  air  grow  black  with  murder  ? 
Ireland,  with  six  times  as  many  people,  and  with  the 
richest  of  soils,  on  half  that  tax  has  become  so 
poor  that  around  her  is  drawn  the  pity  of  the  world. 

"  '  But/  say  the  Eastern  people,  '  you  must  receive 


214 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 


them,  Christianize  them,  and  after  awhile  they  will 
assimilate  with  you.' 

"Waiving  the  degradation  to  us  which  that  implies, 
they  propose  an  impossibility.  They  might  just  as 
well  go  down  to  where  the  Atlantic  beats  against  the 
shore,  and  shout  across  the  waste  to  the  Gulf  stream 
commanding  it  to  assimilate  with  the  'common  waters' 
of  the  sea.  Not  more  mysterious  is  the  law  that 
holds  that  river  of  the  deep  within  its  liquid  banks, 
than  is  the  instinct  which  prevents  the  Chinaman 
from  shaking  off  his  second  nature  and  becoming  an 
American.  He  looks  back  through  the  halo  of  four 
thousand  years,  sees  that  without  change,  the  nation 
of  his  forefathers  has  existed,  and  with  him  all  other 
existing  nations  except  Japan  and  India  and  Persia, 
areparvenues. 

"  For  thousands  of  years,  he  and  his  fathers  before 
him  have  been  waging  a  hand-to-hand  conflict  with 
Want.  He  has  stripped  and  disciplined  himself  until 
he  is  superior  to  all  hardships  except  famine,  and 
that  he  holds  at  bay  longer  than  any  other  living 
creature  could. 

"Through  this  training  process  from  their  forms 
everything  has  disappeared  except  a  capacity  to  work ; 
in  their  brains  every  attribute  has  died  except  the 
selfish  ones  ;  in  their  hearts  nearly  all  generous  emo 
tions  have  been  starved  to  death.  The  faces  of  the 
men  have  given  up  their  beards,  the  women  have  sur 
rendered  their  breasts  and  the  ability  to  blush  has 
faded  from  their  faces. 

"  Like  all  animals  of  fixed  colors  they  change 
neither  in  habits  nor  disposition.  In  four  thousand 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  215 

years  they  have  changed  no  more  than  have  the 
wolves  that  make  their  lairs  in  the  foothills  of  the 
Ural  mountains,  except  that  they  have  learned  to 
economize  until  they  can  even  live  upon  half  the  air 
which  the  white  man  requires  to  exist  in.  They  have 
trained  their  stomachs  until  they  are  no  longer  the 
stomachs  of  men  ;  but  such  as  as  are  possessed  by 
beasts  of  prey ;  they  thrive  on  food  from  which  the 
Caucasian  turns  with  loathing,  and  on  this  dreadful 
fare  work  for  sixteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four. 

"  The  moral  sentiments  starved  to  death  in  their 
souls  centuries  ago.  They  hold  woman  as  but  an 
article  of  merchandise,  and  delight  to  profit  by  her 
shame. 

"Other  foreigners  come  to  America  to  share  the 
fortunes  of  Americans.  Even  the  poor  Italian,  with 
organ  and  monkey,  dreams  while  turning  his  organ's 
crank,  that  this  year  or  next,  or  some  time,  he  will  be 
able  to  procure  a  little  home,  have  a  garden  of  his 
own,  and  that  his  children  will  grow  up — sanctified 
by  citizenship — defenders  of  our  flag. 

"  But  the  Chinaman  comes  with  no  purpose  except 
for  plunder  ;  the  sole  intention  is  to  get  from  the  land 
all  that  is  possible,  with  the  design  of  carrying  it  or 
sending  it  back  to  native  land.  The  robbery  is  none 
the  less  direct  and  effective  for  being  carried  on  with 
a  non-combatant  smile  instead  of  by  force. 

"It  is  such  a  race  as  this  that  we  are  asked  to  wel 
come  and  compete  with,  and  when  we  explain  that 
the  food  we  each  require — we,  without  wife  or  child 
to  share  with — costs  more  in  the  market  daily  than 
these  creatures  are  willing  to  work  for  and  board 


2l6  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

themselves ;  the  question,  with  a  lofty  disdain,  is  asked  : 
'  Are  you  afraid  to  compete  with  a  Chinaman  ?' 

"  It  is  an  unworthy  question,  born  of  ignorance 
and  a  false  sentimentality  ;  for  no  mortal  can  over 
come  the  impossible. 

"In  the  cities  these  creatures  fill  the  places  of 
domestics  and  absorb  all  the  simpler  trades.  The 
natural  results  follow.  Girls  and  boys  grow  up  with 
out  ever  being  disciplined  to  labor.  But  girls  and 
boys  must  have  food  and  clothes.  If  their  parents 
can  not  clothe  and  feed  them  other  people  must.  If 
poor  girls  with  heads  and  hands  untrained  have  noth 
ing  but  youth  and  beauty  to  offer  for  food,  when 
hungry  enough  they  will  barter  both  for  bread. 

"  The  vices  and  diseases  which  the  Chinese  have 
already  scattered  broadcast  over  the  West  are  matur 
ing  in  a  harvest  of  measureless  and  indescribable  suf 
fering. 

"  The  Chinese  add  no  defense  to  the  State.  They 
have  no  patriotism  except  for  native  land  ;  they  are 
all  children  of  degraded  mothers,  and  as  soldiers  are 
worthless. 

"  Moreover,  it  is  not  a  question  of  sharing  our 
country  with  them  ;  it  is  simply  a  question  of  whether 
we  should  surrender  it  to  them  or  not.  When  the 
western  nations  thoroughly  understand  the  Chinese 
they  will  realize  that  with  their  numbers,  their  imi 
tative  faculties,  their  capacity  to  live  and  to  work  on 
food  which  no  white  man  can  eat,  with  their  appall 
ing  thrift  and  absence  of  moral  faculties,  they  are, 
to-day,  the  terror  of  the  earth. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  21  / 

"  The  nations  forced  China  to  open  her  gates  to 
them.  It  was  one  of  the  saddest  mistakes  of  civ 
ilization. 

"  To  ask  that  their  further  coming  be  stopped 
is  simply  making  a  plea  for  the  future  generations  of 
Americans,  a  prayer  for  the  preservation  of  our 
Republic.  It  springs  from  man's  primal  right  of 
self-preservation,  and  when  we  are  told  that  we 
should  share  our  country  and  its  blessings  with  the 
Chinese,  the  first  answer  is  that  they  possess  already 
one-tenth  of  the  habitable  globe  ;  their  empire  has 
everything  within  it  to  support  a  nation;  they  have, 
qesides,  the  hoarded  wealth  of  a  hundred  genera 
tions,  and  if  these  were  not  enough,  there  are  still 
left  illimitable  acres  of  savage  lands.  Let  them  go 
occupy  and  subdue  them. 

The  civilization  of  China  had  been  as  perfect  as 
it  now  is  for  two  thousand  years  when  our  forefathers 
were  still  barbarians.  While  our  race  has  been  sub 
duing  itself  and  at  the  same  time  learning  the  lessons 
which  lead  up  to  submission  to  order  and  to  law ; 
while,  moreover,  it  has  been  bringing  under  the 
aegis  of  freedom  a  savage  continent,  the  Mongolian 
has  remained  stationary.  To  assert  that  we  should 
now  turn  over  this  inheritance  (of  which  we  are  but 
the  trustees  for  the  future),  or  any  part  of  it,  to  '  the 
little  brown  men,'  is  to  forget  that  a  nation's  first  duty 
is  like  a  father's,  who,  by  instinct,  watches  over  his 
own  child  with  more  solicitude  than  over  the  child  of 
a  stranger,  and  who,  above  all  things,  will  not  place 
his  child  under  the  influence  of  anything  that  will 
at  once  contaminate  and  despoil  him. 


2l8  THE    COMSTOCK    CLU 15. 

"Finally,  by  excluding  these  people  no  principle 
of  our  Government  is  set  aside,  and  no  vital  practice 
which  has  grown  up  under  our  form  of  government. 
Ours  is  a  land  of  perfect  freedom,  but  we  arrest  rob 
bers  and  close  our  doors  to  lewd  women.  While 
these  precautions  are  right  and  necessary,  it  is 
necessary  and  right  to  turn  back  from  our  shores 
the  sinister  hosts  of  the  Orient." 

With  this  the  whole  Club  except  Brewster  heartily 
agreed.  Brewster  merely  said :  "  Maybe  you  are 
right ,  but  your  argument  ignores  the  saving  grace 
of  Christianity,  and  maybe  conflicts  with  God's 
plans." 

Then  the  good-nights  were  said. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  next  evening  when  supper  was  prepared, 
Harding  was  not  present.  He  had  bruised  one 
hand  so  badly  in  the  mine  the  previous  day,  that  he 
was  forced  to  have  it  bound  up  and  treated  with  lini 
ments  and  had  not  worked  that  day.  Thinking  he 
would  be  home  soon  the  rest  ate  their  suppers,  but  it 
was  an  hour  before  he  came.  When  he  arrived  he 
had  a  troubled  look,  and  being  pressed  to  tell  what 
had  gone  wrong,  hs  stated  that  he  had  met  a  group 
of  five  miners  from  the  Sierra  Nevada  day  shift, 
men  whom  they  all  knew,  who,  without  provocation 
had  commenced  abusing  him  ;  jeering  him  about 
joining  with  six  or  seven  more  miners,  hiring  a  house 
and  a  cook,  and  putting  on  airs ;  that  finally  they 
dared  him  to  fight,  and  when  he  offered  to  fight  any 
one  of  them,  they  said  it  was  a  mere  "  bluff  "  that  he 
would  not  fight  a  woman  unless  she  was  sick,  and 
further  declared  their  purpose  at  some  future  time  to 
go  up  and  "  clean  out  "  the  whole  outfit. 

Harding  was  the  younger  member  of  the  Club ; 
the  rest  knew  about  his  former  life  ;  how  his  father, 
joining  the  reckless  throng  of  the  early  days,  lived 
fast  and  suddenly  died,  just  as  the  boy  came  from 
school  ;  how  the  young  man  had  put  aside  his  hopes, 
learned  mining,  and  with  a  brave  purpose  for  work 
ing  hard  and  dreaming  of  the  time  when  he  would 

219 


22O  .        THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

wipe  away  every  reproach  which  rested  on  his  father's 
memory. 

To  have  him  set  upon  by  roughs,  causelessly,  was 
like  a  blow  in  the  face  to  every  other  member  of  the 
Club.  When  Harding  had  told  his  story,  Miller 
said  :  "  Who  did  you  say  these  men  were,  Harding?" 
Harding  told  their  names. 

"Why,  they  are  not  miners  at  all,"  said  Carlin. 
"  They  are  a  lot  of  outside  bruisers  who  have  come 
here  because  there  is  going  to  be  an  election  this 
year,  and  they  have  got  their  names  on  a  pay  roll  to 
keep  from  being  arrested  as  vagrants.  You  did  just 
right,  Harding,  to  get  away  from  them  with  your 
crippled  hand  without  serious  trouble." 

"  Indeed  you  did,  Harding,"  said  Brewster.  "  One 
street  fight  at  your  age  might  ruin  you  for  life." 

"  That  is  quiet  true,"  said  Miller  ;  I  am  glad  you 
had  no  fight." 

Said  Corrigan  :  "  You  offered  to  fight  any  one  of 
the  blackguards,  and  whin  they  refused,  you  came 
away  ?  It  was  the  proper  thing  to  do." 

"  Did  you  have  any  weapons  with  you,  Harding  ?" 
asked  Ashley. 

"  Not  a  thing  in  the  world,"  was  the  reply. 

"  I  am  glad  of  that,"  said  Ashley.  "  The  tempta 
tion  to  wing  one  or  two  of  the  brutes,  would  have 
been  very  great  had  you  been  '  fixed.' ' 

"  I  am  glad  it  was  no  worse,"  said  Wright.  "  You 
said  it  was  down  by  the  California  Bank  corner?" 

"No,"  replied  Harding;  "it  was  by  the  Fred- 
ericksburg  Brewery  corner,  on  Union  Street,  just 
below  C. 


THE    COMSTOCK  .CLUB,  221 

"You  managed  the  matter  first-rate,  Harding," 
said  Wright.  "  Do  not  think  any  more  about  it." 

Harding,  thus  reassured  by  his  friends,  felt  better, 
but  said  if  three  of  the  Club  would  go  with  him  he 
would  undertake  to  do  his  part  to  bring  hostilities  to 
a  successful  close  with  the  bullies. 

Ashley  and  Corrigan  at  once  volunteered,  but 
Wright  and  Carlin  interfered  and  said  it  must  not  be, 
and  Brewster  expostulated  against  any  such  thing. 

Corrigan  and  Ashley  caught  a  look  and  gesture 
from  Wright  which  caused  them  to  subside,  and 
Harding  at  length  went  out  to  supper. 

When  Harding  came  in  from  up  town,  Miller  was 
making  arrangements  to  go  out,  as  he  said,  to  meet  a 
broker  as  per  agreement.  As  Harding  went  to  sup 
per,  Miller  went  out  and  Brewster  resumed  the  read 
ing  of  a  book  in  which  he  was  engaged.  The  Pro 
fessor,  Colonel  and  Alex  had  not  yet  come  in. 

Significant  glances  passed  between  the  others,  and 
soon  Wright  arose  and  said  :  "  Boys,  the  Emmetts 
drill  to-night  ;  suppose  we  go  down  to  the  armory 
and  look  on  for  half  an  hour." 

The  rest  all  agreed  that  it  would  be  good  exercise, 
and  quietly  the  four  men  went  out,  Wright  saying  as 
he  started  :  "  Brewster,  if  the  others  come,  tell  them 
we  have  just  gone  down  to  the  Emmetts'  armory,  and 
will  be  back  in  half  an  hour  or  so." 

The  Professor  and  Alex  shortly  after  came  in,  a 
little  later  the  Colonel  and  Miller.  It  was  nearly  an 
hour  before  the  others  returned.  When  they  did  they 
were  in  the  best  possible  humor ;  spoke  of  the  per- 
fectness  of  the  Emmetts'  drill ;  told  of  something  they 


222  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

had  heard  down  town  which  was  droll,  while  Barney 
in  particular  was  full  of  merriment  over  a  speech  that 
had  that  day  been  made  by  a  countryman  of  his,  Mr. 
Snow,  in  a  Democratic  convention,  and  insisted  upon 
telling  Brewster  about  it. 

Brewster  laid  down  his  book  and  assumed  the 
attitude  of  a  listener. 

"  It  was  this  way,"  said  Barney.  "The  convmtion 
had  made  all  its  nominations,  when  it  was  proposed 
that  on  Friday  nixt  a  grand  mass-ratification  matin' 
should  be  hild  at  Carson  City,  the  matin'  to  be 
intinded  for  the  inauguratin*  of  the  campaign,  where 
all  the  faithful  from  surroundin'  counties  might  mate 
and  glorify,  and  thus  intimidate  the  inemy  from  the 
very  commincement. 

"  The  proposition  was  carried  by  acclamation,  and 
jist  thin  a  mimber  sprang  up  and  moved  that  the 
matin'  should  be  a  barbecue.  This  motion  likewise 
carried  by  an  overwhilmin'  vote.  Whin  the  noise 
died  away  a  bit,  my  ould  friend  Snow,  he  of  the 
boardin'  house,  arose  and  made  a  motion.  It  was 
beautiful.  Listen ! 

'"Mr.  Spaker!  Bain'  that  the  hift  of  the  Dimo- 
cratic  party  do  not  ate  mate  of  a  Friday,  I  move  yez, 
sir,  that  we  make  it  a. fish  barbecue.'" 

A  great  laugh  followed  Barney's  account  of  the 
motion,  and  then  the  usual  comparison  of  notes  on 
stocks  took  place.  Miller  was  sure  that  Silver  Hill 
was  the  best  buy  on  the  lode  ;  Corrigan  had  been  told 
by  a  Gold  Hill  miner  that  Justice  was  looking  mighty 
encouraging  ;  the  Colonel  had  heard  the  superinten 
dent  of  the  Curry  tell  the  superintendent  of  the 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  223 

Belcher  that  he  was  in  wonderfully  kindly  ground  on 
the  two  thousand  foot  level  ;  the  Professor  had  that 
day  heard  the  superintendent:  of  the  Savage  declare 
that  the  water  was  lowering  four  feet  an  hour,  while 
all  were  wondering  when  the  Sierra  Nevada  would 
break,  as  it  was  too  high  for  the  development.  By 
all  is  meant  all  but  Brewster  and  Harding  ;  they 
never  joined  in  any  conversation  about  stocks. 

At  length  the  stock  talk  slackened,  when  Corrigan 
again  referred  to  the  fish  barbecue  resolution.  Nat 
urally  enough,  the  conversation  drifted  into  a  dis 
cussion  of  the  humor  of  the  coast,  when  the  Colonel 
said  : 

1(1  There  is  not  much  pure  humor  on  this  coast. 
There  is  plenty  of  that  material  called  humor,  which 
has  a  bitter  sting  to  it,  but  that  is  not  the  genuine 
article.  The  men  here  who  think  as  Hood  wrote,  are 
not  plenty.  I  suspect  the  bitter  twang  to  all  the 
humor  here  comes  from  the  isolation  of  men  from 
the  society  of  women,  from  broken  hopes,  and  it 
seems  to  me  is  generally  an  attempt  to  hurl  contempt 
not  upon  the  individual  at  whom  it  is  fired,  but  at  the 
outrageous  fortunes  which  hedge  men  around.  The 
coast  has  been  running  over  with  that  sort  of  thing, 
I  guess,  since  '  forty-nine.' 

"A  man  here,  fond  of  his  wife  and  children,  said 
to  a  friend  a  day  or  two  after  they  went  away  for  a 
visit  to  California  :  '  Did  you  ever  see  a  motherless 
colt?' 

"  '  Oh,  yes,'  was  the  reply. 

"  '  Then,'  said  the  man,  '  you  know  just  how  I  feel.' 


224  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  '  Yes,'  said  the  friend.  '  I  suppose  you  feel  as 
though  you  are  not  worth  a  dam.' 

"  I  know  a  brother  lawyer  who  is  somewhat  famous 
for  getting  the  clients  whom  he  defends  convicted. 
One  morning  he  met  a  brother  attorney,  a  wary  old 
lawyer,  and  said  to  him  :  '  I  heard  some  men  denounc 
ing  you  this  morning  and  took  up  your  defense.' 

"  '  What  did  you  say  ?'  the  other  asked. 

"  '  Those  men  were  slandering  you  and  I  took  it 
upon  myself  to  defend  you,'  said  the  first  lawyer. 

"  The  old  lawyer  took  the  other  by  the  arm,  led 
him  aside,  then  putting  his  lips  close  to  the  ear  of  his 
friend,  in  a  hoarse  whisper  said :  '  Don't  do  it  any 
more.' 

"  '  I  am  going  to  lecture  to-night  at  C ,'  said  a 

pompous  man. 

" '  I  am  glad  of  it,'  was  the  quick  answer.  '  I  have 
hated  the  people  there  for  years.  No  punishment  is 
too  severe  for  them.' 

"  '  I  am  particular  who  I  drink  with,'  said  a  man 
curtly  to  another. 

"  '  Yes  ?'  was  the  answer.  '  I  outgrew  that  foolish 
pride  long  ago.  I  would  as  soon  you  would  drink 
with  me  as  not.' 

"  '  I  do  not  require  lecturing  from  you, 'said  a  man. 
'I  am  no  reformed  drunkard. ( 

"'Then  why  do  you  not  reform?'  was  the 
response. 

"This  coast  is  full  of  the  echoes  of   such  things." 

The  Professor  spoke  next.  "  I  think,"  said  he 
"  that  there  is  more  extravagance  in  figures  of  speech 
on  this  coast  than  in  any  other  country.  Marcus 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUi)  225 

Shults  had  a  difficulty  in  Eureka  the  other  day,  when 
I  was  there.  He  told  me  about  it.  Said  he  :  'I 
told  him  to  keep  away  ;  that  I  was  afraid  of  him.  I 
wanted  some  good  man  to  hear  me  say  that,  but  I 
had  my  eye  on  him  every  minute,  and  had  he  cornea 
step  nearer,  why — when  the  doctors  would  have  been 
called  in  to  dissect  him  they  would  have  thought 
they  had  struck  a  new  lead  mine.' ' 

Here  Wright  interrupted  the  Professor.  "  Marcus 
was  from  my  State,  Professor.  Did  you  ever  hear 
him  explain  why  he  did  not  become  a  fighter  ?" 

The  professor  answered  that  he  never  had,  when 
Wright  continued  : 

"  Marcus  never  took  kindly  to  hard  work.  Indeed, 
he  seems  to  have  constitutional  objections  to  it.  As 
he  tells  i;he  story,  while  crossing  the  plains  he  made 
up  his  mind  that,  upon  reaching  California,  he  would 
declare  himself  and  speedily  develop  into  a  fighter. 
His  words,  when  he  told  me  the  story  were  :  '  They 
knew  me  back  in  Missouri,  and  I  was  a  good  deal  too 
smart  to  attempt  to  practice  any  such  profession 
there,  but  my  idea  was  that  California  was  filled  with 
Yankees,  and  in  that  kind  of  a  community  I  would 
have  an  easy-going  thing.  Well,  I  crossed  the  Sierras 
and  landed  at  Diamond  Springs,  outside  of  Placer- 
ville  a  few  miles,  and  when  I  had  been  there  a  short 
time  I  changed  my  mind.' 

"  Of  course  at  this  point  some  one  asks  him  why- 
he  changed  his  mind,  whereupon  he  answers  sol 
emnly  : 

"  '  The  first  day  I  was  there  a  State  of  Maine  man 
cut  the  stomach  out  of  a  Texan.' 


226  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  Marcus  was  with  the  boys  during  that  first  tough 
winter  in  Eureka.  One  fearfully  cold  day  a  man  was 
telling  about  the  cold  he  had  experienced  in  Idaho. 
When  the  story  was  finished  Marcus  cast  a  look  of 
sovereign  contempt  upon  the  man  and  said  : 

"'You  know  nothing  about  cold  weather,  sir  ;  you 
never  saw  any.  You  should  go  to  Montana.  In  Mon 
tana  I  have  seen  plenty  of  mornings  when  were  a  man 
to  have  gone  out  of  a  warm  room,  crossed  a  street 
sixty  feet  wide  and  shaken  his  head,  his  ears  would 
have  snapped  off  like  icicles.' 

"  The  stranger,  overawed,  retired." 

Alex  spoke  next :  "The  other  day  Dan  Dennison 
asked  me  to  go  and  look  at  a  famous  trotting  horse 
that  he  has  here.  We  went  to  the  stable,  and  when 
the  stepper  was  pointed  out  I  started  to  go  into  the 
stall  beside  him,  whereupon  Dan  caught  me  by  the 
arm,  drew  me  back  and  said  : 

"  '  Be  careful !  Sometimes  he  deals  from  the  bottom.' 

"He  stripped  the  covers  from  the  horse  and  backed 
him  out  where  I  could  look  at  him.  The  horse  was 
not  a  beauty  by  any  means  and  I  intimated  my  belief 
of  that  fact  to  Dan. 

"'  No,'  said  Dennison.  '  The  truth  is —  He  hesi 
tated  a  moment  and  then  the  words  came  in  a  volley: 

"  '  He's  deformed  with  speed.' 

"  There  is  a  lawyer  down  town,  you  all  know  him. 
He  has  a  head  as  big  as  the  old  croppings  of  the 
Gould  and  Curry,  but  like  some  other  lawyers  that 
practice  at  the  Virginia  City  bar  (here  he  glanced 
significantly  at  the  Colonel),  he  is  not  an  exceedingly 
bright  or  profound  man.  He  was  passing  a  down- 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  227 

town  office  yesterday  when  a  man,  who  chanced  to 
be  standing  in  the  office,  said  to  the  bookkeeper  of 
the  establishment  : 

"  Look  at  Judge .  His  head  is  bigger  than 

Mount  Daividson,  but  I  am  told  that  where  his  brains 
ought  to  be,  there  is  a  howling  wilderness.' 

"The  bookkeeper  stopped  his  writing,  carefully 
wiped  his  pen,  laid  it  down,  came  out  from  behind  his 
desk,  came  close  up  to  the  man  who  had  spoken  to 
him,  and  said  : 

"  '  Howling  wilderness  ?  I  tell  you,  sir,  that  man's 
head  is  an  unexplored  mental  Death  Valley.'" 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  his  is  a  queer  family. 
He  has  a  brother  who  is  a  journalist ;  he  has  made  a 
fortune  in  the  business.  His  great  theme  is  sketching 
the  lives  and  characters  of  people." 

"  But  has  he  made  a  fortune  publishing  sketches 
of  that  description  ?"  asked  Miller. 

"  Oh,  no,"  replied  the  Colonel ;  "he  has  made  his 
money  by  refraining  from  publishing  them.  People 
have  paid  him  to  suppress  them." 

"Colonel,"  asked  Strong,  "  did  it  never  occur  to 
you  that  other  fortunes  might  be  made  the  same  way 
by  people  just  exactly  adapted  to  that  style  of 
writing  ?  " 

"  If  it  had,"  was  the  reply,  "  I  should  have  consid 
ered  that  the  field  here  was  fully  occupied." 

"  You  might  write  a  sketch  of  your  own  career," 
suggested  the  Professor. 

"  Don't  do  it,  Colonel,"  said  Alex. 

'  Why  not  ?  "  asked  Ashley. 


228  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  There  is  a  law  which  sadly  interferes  with  the 
circulation  of  a  certain  character  of  literature,'  said 
Alex. 

"  Alex.,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  what  a  painstaking 
and  delicate  task  it  will  be,  under  that  law,  to  write 
your  obituary." 

"  There  will  be  a  great  risk  in  writing  yours,  Col 
onel,"  said  Alex  ;  "  but  it  will  be  a  labor  of  love,  nev 
ertheless  ;  a  labor  of  love,  Colonel." 

"  If  you  have  it  to  do,  Alex,  don't  forget  my  strong 
est  characteristic,"  said  the  Conel  ;  "that  lofty  gener 
osity,  blended  with  a  self-contained  dignity,  which 
made  me  indifferent  always  to  the  slanders  of  bad 
men," 

It  was  always  a  delight  to  the  Club  to  get  these 
two  to  banterinor  each  other. 

O 

Ashley  here  interposed  and  said  :  "  You  all  know 

Professor .  One  night  in  Elko,  last  summer, 

he  was  conversing  with  Judge  F ,  of  Elko.  Both 

had  been  indulging  in  a  little  too  much  ;  the  Profes 
sor  was  growing  talkative  and  the  Judge  morose. 

"  The  Professor  was  telling  about  the  battle  of 
Buena  Vista,  in  which  he,  a  boy  at  the  time,  partici 
pated.  In  the  midst  of  the  description  the  Judge 
interrupted  him  with  some  remark  which  the  Profes 
sor  construed  into  an  impeachment  of  his  bravery. 

"  He  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  sat  looking  at 
the  Judge  for  full  a  minute,  as  if  in  an  astonished 
study,  and  then  in  a  tone  most  dangerous,  said  : 

"  '  I  do  not  know  how  to  classify  you,  sir.  I  do 
not  know,  sir,  whether  you  are  a  wholly  irresponsible 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  229 

idiot,  or  an  unmitigated  and  infamous  scoundrel^ 
sir.' 

"  He  was  conscientious  and  methodical  even  in  his 
wrath.  He  would  not  pass  upon  a  specimen  of  nat 
ural  history  before  him  until  certain  to  what  species 
it  belonged." 

Said  Miller  :  "  Did  you  ever  hear  how  Judge 

T of  this  city  met  a  man  who  had  been  saying 

disrespectful  things  about  him,  but  who  came  up  to 
the  Judge  in  a  crowd  and,  with  a  smile,  extended  his 
hand?  The  Judge  drew  back  quickly,  thrust  both 
hands  in  his  side  pockets  and  said  : 

"'Excuse  me,  sir;  I  have  just  washed  my 
hands.' " 

"  I  heard  something  yesterday  of  a  rough  man 
whom  you  all  know,  Zinc  Barnes,"  said  the  Professor, 
"  which  seemed  to  me  as  full  of  bitter  humor  as  any 
thing  I  have  heard  on  this  mountain  side.  You 
know  that  politics  are  running  pretty  high. 

"  Well,  an  impecunious  man — so  the  story  goes — 
called  upon  a  certain  gentleman  who  is  reported  to 
be  rich  and  to  have  political  aspirations,  and  tried  to 
convince  him  that  the  expenditure  of  a  certain  sum 
of  money  in  a  certain  way  would  redound  amazingly 
to  the  credit,  political,  of  the  millionaire.  The  man 
of  dollars  could  not  see  the  proposition  through  the 
poor  man's  magnifying  glasses,  and  the  patriot 
retired  baffled. 

A  few  minutes  later,  and  while  yet  warm  in  his 
disappointment,  he  met  Zinc  Barnes,  told  him  of  the 
interview  and  closed  by  expressing  the  belief  that  the 
millionaire  was  a  tough,  hard  formation. 


230  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  '  Hard  ! '  said  Zinc.  '  I  should  think  so.  The 
tears  of  widows  and  orphans  are  water  on  his  wheel.' ' 

At  this  Corrigan  'roused  up  and  said  :  "  bpakin' 
of  figures  of  spache,  I  heard  some  from  a  country 
woman  of  mine  one  bitter  cowld  mornin'  last  March. 
It  was  early  ;  hardly  light.  John  Mackay  was  comin' 
down  from  the  Curry  office  on  his  way  to  the  Con. 
Virginia  office,  and  whin  just  opposite  the  Curry 
works,  he  met  ould  Mother  McGarrigle,  who  lives 
down  by  the  freight  depot.  I  was  in  the  machane- 
shop  of  the  Curry  works  ;  they  were  just  outside, 
and  there  being  only  an  inch  boord  and  about  tin 
feet  of  space  between  us,  I  could  hear  ivery  word 
plain,  or  rather  I  could  not  help  but  hear.  The  con 
versation  ran  about  after^this  style  : 

"  '  Mornin',  Mr.  Mackay,  and  may  the  Lord  love 
yez.' 

"  '  Good  morning,  madam.' 

"  '  How's  the  beautiful  wife  and  the  charmin'  chil- 
der  over  the  big  wather,  Mr.  Mackay  ? ' 

"  '  They  are  all  right.' 

"  '  God  be  thanked  intirely.  Does  yez  know,  Mr. 
Mackay,  that  in  the  whole  course  of  me  life  I  niver 
laid  eyes  upon  childer  so  beautiful  loike  yez.  Often 
and  often  I've  tould  the  ould  man  that  same.  And 
they're  will,  are  they  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,  they  are  first-rate.  I  had  a  cable  from 
them  yesterday.' 

"  '  A  tiligram,  was  it  ?  Oh,  but  is  not  that  won 
derful,  though  !  A  missige  under  the  say  and  over 
the  land  to  this  barbarous  place.  It  must  have  come 
like  the  smile  of  the  good  God  to  yez.' 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  231 

"  '  Oh,  I  get  them  every  day.' 

"  '  I  very  day  !      And  phat  do  they  cost  ? ' 

"  '  Oh,  seven  or  eight  dollars  ;  sometimes  more.  It 
depends  upon  their  length.' 

"  '  Sivin  or  eight  dollars  !  Oh,  murther  !  But  yez 
desarve  it,  Mr.  Mackay.  What  would  the  poor  do 
without  yez  in  this  town,  Mr.  Mackay  ?  Only  yister- 
day  I  was  sayin'  to  the  ould  man,  says  I,  "  Mike,  it 
shows  the  mercy  of  God  whin  money  is  given  to  a 
mon  like  Mr.  John  Mackay.  It's  a  Providence  he  Is 
to  the  city.  God  bless  him."  I  did,  indade.' 

"  By  this  time  Mackay  began  to  grow  very 
ristless. 

"  '  What  can  I  do  for  you  this  morning,  Mrs. 
McGarrigle  ?' 

"  '  It's  the  ould  mon,  Lord  love  yez,  Mackay.  It's 
no  work  he's  had  for  five  wakes,  and  its  mighty  little 
we  have  aither  to  ait  or  to  wear.  It's  work  I  want 
for  him.' 

"  '  I  am  sorry,  but  our  mines  are  full.  Indeed,  we 
are  employing  more  men  than  we  are  justified  in 
doing.' 

" '  But,  Mr.  Mackay,  it's  so  poor  we  are,  and  so 
hard  it  is  getting  along  at  all  ;  put  him  on  for  a  month 
and  may  all  the  saints  bless  yez.' 

"  The  city  is  full  of  poor  people,  madam.  To 
determine  what  to  do  to  mitigate  the  distress  here 
occupies  half  our  time.' 

"  '  Yis,  but  ours  is  a  particular  hard  case  intirely. 
I  am  dilicate  mesilf.  I  know  I  don't  look  so,  but  I 
am  ;  and  yez  ought  to  interpose  to  help  a  poor 
countryman  of  yer  own  in  trouble.' 


232  ."HE    COM  STOCK    CLUB. 

"  By  this  time  Mackay  was  half  frozen  and 
thoroughly  out  of  patience.  In  his  quick,  sharp 
way  he  said  :  '  Madam,  we  cannot  give  all  the  men 
in  the  country  employment.' 

"  The  mask  of  the  woman  was  off  in  an  instant. 
With  a  scorn  and  hate  unutterable  she  burst  forth 
in  almost  a  scream  : 

"'Oh,  yez  can't!  Oh,  no!  Yez  forgits  fen  yez 
was  poor  yez  ownsilf,  ye  blackguard.  Refusin'  a 
poor  man  work,  and  shakin'  the  mountains  and 
churnin'  the  ocean  avery  day  wid  your  sivin  and  eight 
dollar  missages.  Yez  can't  employ  all  the  min  in  the 
counthry.  Don't  yez  own  the  whole  counthry  ?  And 
do  yez  think  we'd  apply  to  yez  at  all  if  we  could  find 
a  dacint  mon  in  the  woruld  ?  May  the  divil  fly  away 
wid  yez,  and  whin  he  does  yez  may  tell  him  for  me 
if  he  gives  a  short  bit  for  yer  soul  he'll  chate  himself 
worse  nor  he's  been  chated  since  he  bargained  with 
Judas  Iscariot.  Take  that,  sur,  wid  me  compliments, 
yez  purse-proud  parvenu.' 

"  When  the  woman  began  to  rave,  Mackay  walked 
rapidly  away,  but  she  never  relaxed  the  scrame  of  her 
tirade  until  Mackay  disappeared  from  sight.  Thin 
she  paused  for  a  moment,  thin  to  herself  she  mut 
tered,  'But  I  got  aven  wid  him  onyway.'  She  thin 
turned  and  walked  away  toward  her  cabin. 

"  It  was  a  case  where  money  was  no  assistance  to 
a  mon." 

"  There  is  a  good  deal  of  humor  displayed  in 
courts  of  justice  at  times,  is  there  not,  Colonel?" 
asked  Wright. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  233 

"  Oh,  yes,"  was  the  reply.  "  Any  one  would  think 
so  who  ever  heard  old  Frank  Dunn  explain  to  a 
Court  that  the  reason  of  his  being  late  was  because  he 
had  no  watch, and  deploring  meanwhile  his  inability 
to  purchase  a  watch  because  of  the  multitude  of 
unaccountable  fines  which  his  Honor  had  seen  proper, 
from  time  to  time,  to  impose  upon  him." 

"In  that  first  winter  in  Eureka,"  said  Wright,  "I 
strolled  into  court  one  day  when  a  trial  was  in 
progress. 

"Judge  D—  -  was  managing  one  side  and  a  vol 
unteer  lawyer  the  other.  The  volunteer  lawyer  had 

the  best  side,  and  to  confuse  the  Court,  Judge  D , 

in  his  argument,  misquoted  the  testimony  somewhat. 
His  opponent  interrupted  and  repeated  exactly  what 
the  witness  had  testified  to. 

"  Turning  to  his  opponent,  Judge  D ,  with  a 

sneer,  said  : 

" '  I  see,  sir,  you  are  very  much  interested  in  the 
result  of  this  case.' 

"'  Oh,  no,'  was  the  response.  '  I  am  doing  this  for 
pure  love.  I  do  not  make  a  cent  in  this  case.' 

"  Then  Judge  D—  — ,  with  still  more  bitterness, 
said  : 

"  '  That  is  like  you.  You  try  cases  for  nothing 
and  cheat  good  lawyers  out  of  their  fees. 

"  With  a  look  of  unfeigned  astonishment  the  other 

o 

lawyer  said  : 

"  '  Well,  what  are  you  angry  about  ?  How  does 
that  interfere  with  you  ?  ' 

Here  Brewster,  who  had  been  reading,  laid  down 
his  book  and  said  : 


234  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  I  heard  of  a  case  as  I  came  through  Salt  Lake 
City  some  years  ago,  which,  if  not  particularly 
humorous,  revealed  wonderful  presence  of  mind  on 
the  part  of  the  presiding  Judge.  It  may  be  the  story 
is  not  true,  but  it  was  told  in  Salt  Lake  City  as  one 
very  liable  to  be  true. 

"  A  miner,  who  had  been  working  a  placer  claim 
in  the  hills  all  summer — so  the  story  ran — and  who 
had  been  his  own  cook,  barber,  chambermaid  and 
tailor,  came  down  to  Salt  Lake  City  to  see  the  sights 
and  purchase  supplies.  He  had«dough  in  his  whiskers, 
grease  upon  his  overalls,  pine  twigs  in  his  hair,  and 
altogether  did  not  present  the  appearance  of  a  danc 
ing  master  or  a  millionaire.  Hardly  had  he  reached 
the  city  when  he  thought  it  necessary  to  take  some 
thing  in  order  to  '  brace  up.'  One  drink  gave  him 
courage  to  take  another,  and  in  forty  minutes  he  was 
dead  drunk  on  the  sidewalk. 

"  The  police  picked  him  up  and  tossed  him  into  a 
cell  in  the  jail,  disdaining  to  search  him,  so  abject 
seemed  his  condition. 

"  Next  morning  he  was  brought  before  the  Police 
Judge  and  the  charge  of  D.  D.  was  preferred  against 
him. 

"  '  You  are  fined  ten  dollars,  sir,'  was  the  brief  sen 
tence  of  the  Court.  The  man  unbuttoned  two  pairs 
of  overalls  and  from  some  inner  recess  of  his  garments 
produced  a  roll  of  greenbacks  as  big  as  a  man's  fist. 
It  was  a  trying  moment  for  the  Judge,  but  his  pres 
ence  of  mind  did  not  fail  him.  He  raised  up  from 
his  seat,  leaned  one  elbow  on  his  desk  and,  as  if  in 
continuation  of  what  he  had  already  said,  thundered 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  235 

out  :    '  And    one   hundred  dollars    for    contempt   of 
court.' 

"  The  man  paid  the  one  hundred  and  ten  dollars 
and  hastily  left  the  court  and  the  city." 

Miller  was  the  next  to  speak.  Said  he  :  "  Once  in 
Idaho  I  heard  a  specimen  of  grim  humor  which  enter 
tained  me  immensely.  There  was  a  man  up  there 
who  owned  a  train  of  pack  mules  and  made  a  living 
by  packing  in  goods  to  the  traders  and  packing  out 
ore  to  be  sent  away  to  the  reduction  works.  He  was 
caught  in  a  storm  midway  between  Challis  and  Pow 
der  Flat.  It  was  mid-winter  ;  the  thermometer  at 
Challis  marked  thirty-four  degrees  below  zero.  He 
was  out  in  the  storm  and  cold  two  days  and  one 
night,  and  his  sufferings  must  have  been  indescriba 
ble.  When  safely  housed  and  ministered  to  at  last  a 
friend  said  to  him  :  '  George,  that  was  a  tough  exper 
ience,  was  it  not  ?  ' 

' '  Oh,  regular  business  should  never  be  called 
tough,"  said  he,  "but  since  I  have  begun  to  get  warm 
I  have  been  thinking  that,  if  I  make  money  enough, 
may  be  in  three  or  four  years  I  will  get  married,  if  I 
can  deceive  some  woman  into  making  the  arrange 
ment.  If  I  should  succeed,  and  if  after  a  reasonable 
time  a  boy  should  be  born  to  us,  and  if  the  youngster 
should  "  stand  off "  the  colic,  teething,  measles, 
whooping-cough,  scarlet  fever  and  falling  down  stairs, 
and  grow  to  be  ten  or  twelve  years  eld,  and  have 
some  sense,  if  I  ever  tell  him  the  story  of  the  past 
two  days  of  my  life  and  he  don't  cry  his  eyes  out,  I 
will  beat  him  to  death,  sure.' ' 


236  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB, 

The  Professor  was  reminded  by  the  anecdote  of 
something  which  transpired  in  Belmont,  Nevada,  the 
previous  winter.  Said  he :  "  I  went  to  Belmont  to 
examine  a  property  last  winter,  and  while  there 
Judge  —  came  in  from  a  prospecting  trip  down 
into  the  upper  edge  of  Death  Valley.  I  saw  him  as 
he  drove  into  town,  and  went  to  meet  him.  He  was 
in  no  very  good  spirits.  On  the  way  to  his  office  he 
said :  '  I  was  persuaded  against  my  better  judgment 
to  go  on  that  trip.  The  thief  who  coaxed  me  away 
told  a  wonderful  story.  He  had  been  there;  he  had 
seen  the  mine,  but  had  been  driven  away  by  the 
Shoshones;  he  knew  every  spring  and  camping  place. 
It  would  be  just  a  pleasure  trip.  So,  like  an  idiot,  I 
went  with  him.  It  was  twice  as  far  as  he  said,  and 
we  got  out  of  food ;  he  could  not  find  one  particular 
spring,  and  we  were  forty  hours  without  water.  We 
had  to  camp  in  the  snow,  and  the  only  pleasure  I  had 
in  the  whole  journey  was  in  seeing  my  companion 
slip  and  sit  down  squarely  on  a  Spanish  bayonet 
plant.  It  was  a  double  pleasure,  indeed  ;  one  pleasure 
to  see  him  sit  down  and  another  pleasure  to  see  him 
get  right  up  again  without  resting  at  all,  and  with  a 
look  on  his  face  as  though  a  serious  mistake  had  been 
made  somewhere.' 

"  By  this  time  we  had  reached  the  Judge's  office. 
On  the  desk  lay  a  score  of  letters  which  had  been 
accumulating  during  his  absence.  Begging  me  to 
excuse  him  for  five  minutes,  he  sat  down  and  com 
menced  to  run  through  his  mail. 

"  Suddenly  he  stopped,  seized  a  pen  and  wrote 
rapidly  for  two  or  three  minutes.  Then  he  threw 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  237 

down  the  pen  and  begged  my  attention.  First  he 
read  a  letter  which  was  dated  somewhere  in  Iowa. 
The  writer  stated  that  he  had  a  few  thousand  dollars, 
but  had  determined  to  leave  Iowa  and  seek  some  new 
field,  and  asked  the  Judge's  advice  about  removing 
to  Nevada.  I  asked  the  judge  if  he  knew  the  man. 

"'Of  course  not,'  said  he.  'He  has  found  my 
name  in  some  directory,  and  so  has  written  at  ran 
dom.  He  has  probably  written  similar  letters  to 
twenty  other  men.  Possibly  he  is  writing  a  book 
descriptive  of  the  Far  West  by  an  actual  observer,' 
continued  the  Judge. 

"  '  How  are  you  going  to  reply?'  I  asked. 

"'That  is  just  the  point,'  he  answered.  'I  have 
written  and  I  want  you  to  tell  me  if  I  have  done 
about  the  right  thing.  Listen.' 

"  At  this  he  read  his  letter.  It  was  in  these  iden 
tical  words  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR: — Your  esteemed  favor  is  at  hand  and  afetr  careful 
deliberation  I  have  determined  to  write  to  you  to  come  to  Nevada.  I 
cannot,  in  the  brief  space  to  which  a  letter  must  necessarily  be  con 
fined,  enter  into  details;  but  I  can  assure  you  that  if  you  will  come 
here,  settle  and  invest  your  means,  the  final  result  will  be  most  happy 
to  you.  A  few  brief  years  of  existence  here  will  prepare  you  to  enjoy 
all  the  rest  and  all  the  beatitudes  which  the  paradise  of  the  blessed 
can  bestow,  and  if,  perchance,  your  soul  should  take  the  other  track, 
hell  itself  can  bring  you  no  surprises.  Respectfully,  etc. 

"  He  mailed  the  letter,  but  at  last  accounts  the 
gentleman  had  not  come  West." 

o 

"That,"  said  Alex,  "reminds  me  of  Charley 
O—  ~'s  mining  experience.  An  Eastern  company 
purchased  a  series  of  mines  at  Austin  and  made 
Charley  superintendent  of  the  company  at  a  hand 
some  salary.  Charley  proceeded  to  his  post  of  duty, 


238  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

built  a  fine  office  and  drew  his  salary  for  a  year.  He 
did  his  best,  too,  to  make  something  of  the  property, 
but  it  is  a  most  difficult  thing  to  make  a  mine  yield 
when  there  is  no  ore  in  it.  The  result  was  nothing 
but  '  Irish  dividends'  for  the  stockholders.  It  was  in 
the  old  days,  before  the  railway  came  along. 

"One  morning,  when  the  overland  coach  drove 
into  Austin,  a  gentleman  dismounted,  asked  where 
the  office  of  the  Lucknow  Gold  and  Silver  Consoli 
dated  Mining  and  Milling  Company  was,  and  being 
directed,  went  to  the  office  and  without  knocking 
opened  the  door  and  walked  in.  Charley  was  sitting 
with  his  feet  on  the  desk,  smoking  a  cigar  and  read 
ing  the  morning  paper. 

"  '  Is  Mr.  O in?"  politely  inquired  the  stranger. 

"  '  I  am  Mr.  O—  — ,'  responded  Charley.  The 
stranger  unbuttoned  his  coat,  dived  into  a  side  pocket 
and  drawing  out  a  formidable  envelope,  presented  it 
toO . 

"  Charley  tore  open  the  envelope  and  found  that 
the  letter  within  was  a  formal  notice  from  the  secre 
tary  of  the  company  that  the  bearer  had  been 
appointed  superintendent  and  resident  manager  of 
the  L.  G.  &  S.  C.  M.  &  M.  Co.,  and  requesting  O- 
to  surrender  to  him  the  books  and  all  other  property 
of  the  company.  After  reading  the  letter  Charley 
looked  up  and  said  to  the  stranger : 

"  '  And  so  you  have  come  to  take  my  place  ? ' 

" '  I-t  seems  so/  was  the  reply. 

"'On  your  account  I  am  awfully  sorry,'  said 
Charley. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  239 

" '  The  stranger  did  not  believe  that  he  was  in  any 
particular  need  of  sympathy. 

" '  But  you  will  not  live  six  months  here,'  said 
Charley. 

"  The  stranger  was  disposed  to   take  his  chances. 

"  This  happened  in  August.  Charley  took  the  first 
stage  and  came  into  Virginia  City.  In  the  following 
December  the  morning  papers  here  contained  a  dis 
patch  announcing  that  Mr.  -  — ,  superintendent  of 
the  Lucknow  Gold  and  Silver  Consolidated  Mining 
and  Milling  Company,  was  dangerously  ill  of  pneu 
monia.  On  the  succeeding  morning  there  was 

another  dispatch  from  Austin  saying  that  Mr. , 

late  superintendent  of  the  Lucknow  Gold  and  Silver 
Consolidated  Mining  and  Milling  Company,  died  the 
previous  evening  and  that  the  body  would  be  sent 
overland  to  San  Francisco,  to  be  shipped  from  there 
to  the  East.  Two  days  after  that,  about  the  time 
the  overland  coaches  were  due,  Charley  was  seen 
wading  through  the  mud  down  to  the  Overland  barn. 
He  went  in  and  saw  two  coaches  with  fresh  mud  upon 
them.  The  curtains  of  the  first  were  rolled  up.  The 
curtains  of  the  second  were  buckled  down  close. 

O went  to  the  second  coach,  loosened  one  of  the 

curtains  and  threw  it  back  ;  then  reaching  in  and  tap 
ping  thejcoffin  with  his  knuckles,  said :  '  Didn't  I 
tell  you  ?  Didn't  I  tell  you  ?  You  thought  you  could 
stop  my  salary  and  still  live.  See  what  a  fix  it  has 
brought  you  to  ! '  And  then  he  went  away.  No  one 
would  ever  have  known  that  he  had  been  there  had 
not  an  'ostler  overheard  him. 


240  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  Speaking  of  Austin,  I  think  the  remark  made  by 
Lawyer].  B.  Felton  of  Oakland,  California,  regarding 
the  mines  of  Austin,  was  as  cute  as  anything  I  ever 
heard.  When  the  mines  were  first  discovered  Felton 
was  induced  to  invest  a  good  deal  of  money  in  them. 

"The  mines  were  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  civilization,  there  being  no  reduction  works  of 
any  kind,  and  pure  silver  would  hardly  have  paid. 
So  Felton  did  not  realize  readily  from  his  investment. 
After  some  months  had  gone  by  Felton  was  standing 
on  Montgomery  street,  San  Francisco,  one  day  when 
a  long  procession,  celebrating  St.  Patrick's  day,  filed 
past.  Of  course  Erin's  flag  was  'full  high  advanced' 
in  the  procession.  Turning  to  a  friend,  Felton  said  : 
'Can  you  tell  why  that  flag  is  like  a  Reese  River 
mine  ?' 

"The  friend  could  not. 

"Said  Felton;  'It's  composed  mostly  of  sham 
rock  and  a  blasted  lyre  ! ' ' 

Ashley  was  next  to  speak. 

"After  all,"  said  he,  "the  funniest  things  are  some 
times  those  which  are  not  meant  to  be  funny  at  all. 
Steve  Gillis,  in  a  newspaper  office  down  town,  perpe 
trated  one  the  other  day.  An  Eastern  editor  was 
here,  and  when  he  found  out  how  some  of  the  men 
in  the  office  were  working  he  was  paralyzed,  and  said 
to  Gillis  : 

'"There's  ,  you  will  go  into  his  room  some 

day  and  find  him  dead.  He  will  go  like  a  flash  some 
time.  No  man  can  do  what  he  is  doing  and  stand  it.' 

"  '  Do  you  think  so?'  asked  Gillis. 

"  '  Indeed  I  do  ;  I  know  it,'  said  the  man. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  241 

"  '  Then,  said  Gillis,  'you  ought  to  be  here.  You 
would  see  the  most  magnificent  funeral  ever  had  in 
Virginia  City."1 

By  this  time  it  was  very  late  and  the  Club  dis 
persed  for  the  night. 

Next  morning  Harding,  who  was  reading  the 
morning  paper,  came  upon  this  item  : 

A  LIVELY  SCRIMMAGE. 

Last  evening,  about  7:30  o'clock,  there  was  a  terrific  fight  on  Union 
street,  near  the  depot;  four  men  against  five.  It  lasted  but  a  few  min 
utes,  but  the  five  men  were  dreadfully  beaten.  No  one  seemed  to  know 
the  origin  of  the  fight.  A  boy  who  was  standing  across  the  street  says  the 
men  met,  a  few  low  words  passed  between  them,  and  then  the  fight  ensued. 
The  four  men,  who  seem  to  have  been  the  assailants,  hardly  suffered  any 
damage,  but  the  five  others  were  so  badly  beaten  that  two  of  them  had  to 
be  carried  home,  while  the  other  three  had  fearful  mansard  roofs  put  upon 
them. 

There  were  no  arrests;  indeed  little   sympathy  was  felt  for  the  injured 
men,  for  though  at   present  at  work  in  the   mines,  they  are  known  as  bul 
lies  and  roughs  by  trade. 

No  one  seems  to  know  who  the  victors  were,  except  that  they  were 
miners.  One  man  told  our  reporter  that  he  knew  one  of  the  men  by 
sight;  that  he  was,  he  thought,  a  Gold  Hill  miner.  No  weapons  were 
drawn  on  either  side,  and  no  loud  words  were  spoken,  but  it  was  as  fierce 
an  encounter  as  has  been  seen  here  since  the  old  fighting  days. 

Harding  looked  up  from  the  paper  and  said  : 

"  Wright,  what  was  it  you    said  about  the  drill  of 

the  Emmett  Guards,  last  night?" 

"  They    are    splendid,    those  Emmetts,"  was    the 

reply,  with  an  imperturbed  face. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Pay  day  was  on  the  fifth  of  the  month.  On  the 
night  of  the  thirteenth,  when  the  Club  met  at  the 
usual  hour  for  supper,  Miller  was  not  present.  He 
was  never  as  regular  as  the  others,  so  the  rest  did  not 
wait  supper  for  him.  After  supper  the  Club  settled 
down  to  their  pipes,  the  Professor,  the  Colonel  and 
Alex  came  in,  and  the  usual  discussion  about  stocks 
was  indulged  in  for  some  minutes,  the  chief  matter 
dwelt  upon  being  the  steady  and  unaccountable  rise 
in  Sierra  Nevada.  At  length  it  was  noticed  that 
Carlin  did  not  join  as  usual  in  the  conversation,  and 
Ashley  asked  him  what  he  seemed  so  cast  down 
about. 

At  this  Carlin  shook  himself  together  and  said  :  "  I 
I  will  be  glad  if  you  all  will  give  me  your  attention 
for  a  moment."  He  took  a  letter  from  his  pocket 
and  read  as  follows  : 

CAKLIN: — When  you  receive  this  I  shall  be  on  my  way,  by  horseback 
(overland),  to  Eastern  Nevada.  I  am  going  to  Austin,  and  if  I  do  not 
obtain  employment  there,  shall  continue  on  to  Eureka.  You  can  find  me 
in  one  place  or  the  other  by  Sunday. 

The  evening  of  pay  day,  with  the  money  which  the  Club  had  placed  in 
my  hands  to  pay  the  bills  I  went  down  town  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of 
the  Club,  when  I  met  a  friend,  who  is  in  the  close  confidence  of  the  "  big 
ring"  of  operators.  He  called  me  aside  and  told  me  that  he  had  inside 
information  that  within  three  days  Silver  Hill  would  commence  10  jump, 
that  within  a  week  the  present  value  would  be  multiplied  by  five  or  six  and 
more  likely  by  ten.  That  there  would  be  an  immediate  and  great  advance 
he  assured  me  was  absolutely  certain.  He  told  me  how  he  had  received 
liis  information,  and  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  conclusive. 

242 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  243 

I  found  a  troker,  unloaded  my  pockets,  and  bade  him  buy  Silver  Hill; 
to  buy  on  a  margin  all  he  could  afford  to.  The  stock  has  fallen  thirty  per 
cent.,  and  the  indications  are  that  it  will  go  still  lower.  Yesterday  I  sup 
pose  it  was  sold  out  for  on  the  previous  day  I  received  a  notice  from  the 
broker  to  please  call  at  his  office  at  once.  My  courage,  that  never  failed 
me  before,  broke  down.  I  could  not  go.  The  amount  of  money  belong 
ing  to  the  Club  which  I  had  was  altogether  $575.00.  Of  course  it  is  lost. 
It  is  a  clear  case  of  breach  of  trust,  if  not  of  embezzlement.  You  can 
make  me  smart  for  it,  if  you  feel  disposed  to,  or  if  you  can  give  me  the 
time,  I  can  pay  the  money  in  about  eight  months  after  I  get  to  work. 
That  is,  I  can  send  you  about  eighty  dollars  per  month.  If  wanted,  I  will 
be  in  Austin  or  Eureka. 

I  might  make  this  letter  much  longer,  but  I  suspect  by  the  time  you 
will  have  read  this  much,  you  will  think  it  long  enough.  Believe  me 
none  of  you  can  think  meaner  of  me  than  I  do  of  myself. 

JOE  MILLER. 

After  the  reading  of  the  letter,  Wright  was  the 
first  to  find  his  voice.  -  Said  he  :  "  It  is  too  bad.  I 
knew  Miller  was  reckless,  but  I  believed  his  reckless 
ness  never  could  go  beyond  his  own  affairs.  I  had 
implicit  faith  in  him." 

"  Had  he  only  told  us,"  said  Ashley,  "  that  he 
wanted  to  use  the  money,  he  could  have  had  five 
times  the  sum." 

"What  I  hate  about  it,  is  the  want  of  courage  and 
the  lack  of  faith  in  the  rist  of  us,"  said  Corrigan. 
"Why  did  he  not  come  loike  a  mon  and  say,  '  Boys, 
I  have  lost  a  triflle  of  your  money  in  the  malstroom 
of  stocks  ;  be  patient  and  I  will  work  out  ?  " 

"  It  is  a  pitiable  business,"  said  Carlin.  "  The 
money — that  is  the  loss  of  it — does  not  hurt  at  all. 
But  it  was  Miller  who  proposed  the  forming  of  this 
Club,  and  he  is  the  one  who  first  betrays  us,  and  then 
lacks  the  sand  to  tell  us  about  it  frankly.  But  no 
matter.  Jesus  Christ  failed  to  secure  twelve  men 


244  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

who  were  all  true.  What  do  you  think  of  it,  Brew- 
ster?" 

"  What  Miller  has  done,"  said  Brewster,  "  is  but  a 
natural  result  when  a  workingman  goes  down  into 
the  pit  of  stock  gambling.  The  hope  in  that  busi 
ness  is  to  obtain  money  without  earning  it.  It  is  a 
kind  of  lunacy.  In  a  few  months,  men  so  engaged 
lose  everything  like  a  steady  poise  to  their  minds. 
They  take  on  all  the  attributes  which  distinguish  the 
gambler.  Their  ideas  are  either  up  in  the  clouds  or 
down  in  the  depths.  Worst  of  all,  they  forget  that  a 
dollar  means  so  many  blows,  so  many  drops  of  sweat, 
that  a  dollar,  when  we  see  it,  means  that  sometime, 
somewhere,  to  produce  that  dollar,  an  honest  dollar's 
worth  of  work  was  performed,  that  when  that  dollar 
is  transferred  to  another,  another  dollar's  worth  of 
work  in  some  form  must  be  given  in  return,  or  the 
eternal  balance  of  Justice  will  be  disarranged.  Miller 
reached  the  point  where  he  did  not  prize  his  own 
dollars  at  their  true  value.  It  ought  not  to  be 
expected  that  he  would  be  more  careful  of  ours." 

"  Colonel,  what  is  your  judgment  about  the  busi 
ness  ?  "  Carlin  asked. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  was  the  reply  "  that  when  he 
went  away  Miller  insulted  all  of  you — all  of  us,  for 
that  matter.  His  conduct  assumes  that  we  are  all 
pawnbrokers  who  would  go  into  mourning  over  a  few 
dollars  lost." 

"  Oh,  no,  I  think  not,"  said  Strong.  "  Miller  is  a 
sensitive,  high-strung  man.  He  has  been  in  all  sorts 
of  dangers  and  difficulties  and  has  never  faltered.  At 
last  he  found  himself  in  a  place  where,  for  the  first 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  245 

time,  he  felt  his  honor  wounded,  and  his  courage 
failed  him.  He  is  not  running  away  from  us,  he  is 
trying  to  run  away  from  himself." 

"  What  is  your  judgment,  Professor?"  asked  Car- 
lin. 

"  As  they  say  out  here,  Miller  got  off  wrong,"  said 
the  Professor  ;  "  and  he  seems  blinded  by  the  mistake 
so  much  that  he  cannot  see  his  best  way  back." 

"  Harding,  why  are  you  so  still  ?  "  asked  Carlin. 

"  I  am  sorry  for  Miller,"  said  Harding.  "  He  is 
the  best-hearted  man  in  the  world." 

"  It  is  a  most  unpleasant  business.  What  shall  we 
do  about  it  ?  "  asked  Carlin.  "  I  wish  all  would  express 
an  opinion." 

*'  What  ought  to  be  done,  Carlin  ?  "  asked  Wright. 

Carlin  answered  :  "  The  business  way  would  be  to 
formally  expel  him  from  the  Club,  and  to  write  him 
that,  without  wraiving  any  legal  rights,  we  will  give 
him  the  time  he  requires  in  which  to  settle." 

"  That  would  no  doubt  be  just,"  said  Wright. 

"  There  would  be  no  injustice  in  it,  from  a  busi 
ness  standpoint,"  said  Ashley. 

'  He  certainly,"  said  Brewster,  "  would  have  no 
right  to  complain  of  such  treatment." 

Said  Corrigan  :  "  The  verdict  of  the  woruld  would 
be  that  we  had  acted  fairly." 

"  No  one,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  could  blame  you  for 
firing  him  out.  He  has  not  only  wronged  you  directly 
but  at  the  same  moment  has  attacked  your  credit  in 
the  city  where  you  are  owing  bills." 

"  That  is  true,"  said  the  Professor. 


246  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  It  is  only  a  matter  of  discretion  what  to  do,"  said 
Alex.  "All  the  direct  equities  are  against  Miller." 

"  There  is  no  decision  so  fair  as  by  a  secret  ballot," 
said  Harding.  "  Let  us  take  a  vote  on  the  propo 
sition  of  Miller's  expulsion,  and  all  must  take  part." 

This  was  agreed  to.  Nine  slips  of  paper  were  pre 
pared,  all  of  one  size  and  length,  one  was  given  to 
each  man  to  write  "  Expulsion,  yes,"  or"  Expulsion, 
no,"  as  he  pleased.  A  hat  was  placed  on  the  table 
for  a  ballot-box  ;  each  in  turn  deposited  his  ballot 
and  resumed  his  seat. 

The  silence  was  growing  painful  when  Brewster 
said  :  "  Carlin,  Miller  wrote  back  to  you  ;  you  will 
have  to  write  to  him.  Suppose  you  be  the  returning 
board  to  count  the  votes  and  make  up  the  returns." 

Carlin  arose  and  went  to  the  table.  There  he 
paused,  and  his  face  wore  a  look  of  extreme  trouble  ; 
but  he  shook  off  the  influence,  whatever  it  was, 
stretched  out  his  hand  in  an  absent-minded  way, 
picked  up  a  ballot  and  slowly  brought  it  before  his 
eyes.  He  looked  at  it,  turned  it  over  and  looked  on 
the  other  side,  and  then  with  a  foolish  laugh  he  said  : 
"  Why,  the  ballot  is  blank." 

He  transferred  it  to  his  left  hand,  picked  up 
another  ballot  with  his  right  hand  ;  looked  at  it  ;  it, 
too,  was  blank. 

So  in  turn  he  took  up  one  after  another.  They  all 
were  blank. 

As  he  called  the  last  one  and  started  to  resume 
his  seat,  Harding,  in  a  low  voice,  as  to  himself,  said : 
"  Thank  God  !  " 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  247 

All  looked  a  little  foolish  for  a  moment,  and  then 
the  Colonel  said  :  "  Why,  Carlin  you  are  not  much 
of  a  returning  board,  after  all." 

Said  Corrigan  :  "  It  sames  the  convintion  moved 
to  make  it  unanimous." 

Said  Carlin  :  "  I  could  not  vote  to  expel  Miller. 
He  has  long  been  my  friend.  I  know  how  sensitive 
he  is.  He  wronged  us  a  little,  but  I  just  could  not 
do  it." 

Said  Brewster  :  "  I  could  not  do  it,  because  that 
would  be  the  quickest  way  to  cause  a  man,  when  on 
the  down  grade,  to  keep  on.  To  make  him  feel  that 
those  who  have  been  most  intimate  with  him,  despise 
him,  may  be  exact  justice,  but  it  seldom  brings  refor 
mation." 

Said  the  Colonel  :  "  I  could  not  do  it  in  his  absence. 
It  would  have  had  a  look  of  assasination  from 
behind.' 

"  I  could  not  do  it,"  said  the  Professor.  "  The  news 
would  have  got  out  and  the  Club  would  have  been 
disgraced." 

"  It  was  not  much  more  than  an  error  of  judgment 
on  Miller's  part,"  said  Wright.  "  He  never  intended 
to  wrong  us  out  of  a  penny.  Crime  is  measured  only 
by  the  intention." 

"That  is  the  true  inwardness  of  the  whole  busi 
ness,  Wright,  and  that  thought  kept  my  ballot  blank," 
was  Alex's  suggestion. 

"  I  could  not  do  it,"  said  Ashley.  "  His  expulsion 
,  would  have  looked  as  though  we  measured  friendship 
by  dollars.  If  a  man  ever  needs  friends,  it  is  when 
he  is  in  trouble." 


248  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  I  could  not  do  it,"  chimed  in  Corrigan.  "  Sup 
pose  all  our  mistakes  shall  be  remimbered  against  us, 
how  will  we  iver  git  admitted  to  the  great  Club 
above  ?  " 

"  I  could  not  do  it,  because  I  love  him, "said  Hard 
ing. 

"  I  feared,"  said  Brewster,  "that  things  were  going 
wrong  with  Miller  a  week  ago,  when  I  noticed  that 
in  lieu  of  the  costly  chair  which  he  first  brought  to 
the  Club,  he  was  using  that  old,  second-hand  cheap 
affair." 

"I  think,"  said  Harding,  "  that  I  have  a  right  to 
tell  now  what  has  been  a  secret.  You  know  Miller 
and  myself  worked  together.  We  were  coming  up 
from  the  mine  one  evening,  ten  days  ago,  when  we 
chanced  to  pass  old  man  Arnold's  cabin — Arnold,  who 
was  crippled  by  a  fall  in  the  Curry  some  months  ago. 
The  old  man  was  sitting  outside  his  cabin  and  rest 
ing  his  crippled  limb  on  a  crutch.  Miller  stopped 
and  asked  him  how  he  was  getting  on,  and  talked 
pleasantly  with  him  for  a  few  minutes,  when  an  ex 
press  wagon  came  by.  Miller  left  the  old  man  with  a 
pleasant  word,  asked  me  if  I  would  not  wait  there  a 
few  minutes,  hailed  the  expressman,  jumped  upon 
his  wagon,  said  something  to  the  man  which  I  did 
not  understand,  and  the  wagon  was  driven  rapidly 
away, 

"  In  a  few  minutes  it  returned ;  Miller  sprang 
down  ;  the  expressman  handed  him  the  great  easy 
chair;  he  carried  it  into  the  door  of  the  cabin,  setting 
it  just  inside  ;  then  lifted  the  half-helpless  man  in 
his  arms  from  his  hard  chair,  placed  him  in  the  soft 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  249 

cushions  of  the  other,  moved  it  gently  until  it  was  in 
just  the  position  where  the  invalid  could  best  enjoy 
looking  at  the  descending  night ;  then,  picking  up 
the  old  battered  chair,  he  said  cheerily  :  'Arnold,  I 
want  to  trade  chairs  with  you,'  and  walked  so  rapidly 
away  that  the  astonished  man  could  not  recover  from 
his  surprise  enough  to  thank  him.  This  old  chair  is 
the  one  he  brought  away. 

"Coming  home  he  said  to  me:  '  Harding,  don't 
give  me  away  on  this  business,  please.  We  are  all 
liable  to  be  crippled  some  time,  and  to  need  com 
forts  which  we  do  not  half  appreciate  now.  I  would 
have  given  the  old  man  the  chair  two  weeks  ago,  but 
I  did  not  have  it  quite  paid  for  at  that  time.' 

"I  tell  you  the  story  now  because  I  do  not  think 
there  is  any  obligation  to  keep  it  a  secret  any  longer." 

When  Harding  had  finished  there  was  not  one 
man  present  who  was  not  glad  that  the  vote  had 
resulted  unanimously  against  the  generous  man's  ex 
pulsion. 

The  next  question  was  as  to  the  form  of  the  letter 
that  should  be  sent  Miller.  This  awakened  a  o;ood 

o 

deal  of  discussion.  It  was  finally  decided  that  each 
should  write  a  letter,  and  that  the  one  which  should 
strike  the  Club  most  favorably  should  be  sent,  or 
that  from  the  whole  a  new  letter  should  be  prepared. 
Writing  materials  were  brought  out  and  all  went  to 
work  on  their  letters.  For  several  minutes  nothing 
but  the  scratching  of  pens  broke  the  silence. 

When  the  letters  were  all  completed,  Carlin  was 
called  upon  to  read  first.  He  proceeded  as  follows  : 


250  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

VIRGINIA  CITY,  August  13,  1878. 

FRIEND  MILLER  : — The  Club  has  talked  everything  over.  All  think 
you  made  a  great  mistake  in  going  away,  and  that  it  would  be  better  for 
you  to  return  to  your  work.  Your  old  place  in  the  Club  will  be  kept  open 
for  you.  Sincerely  yours, 

TOM  CARLIN. 

Wright  read  next  as  follows  : 

VIRGINIA  CITY,  August  i3th,  1878. 

JOE  : — I  make  a  poor  hand  at  writing.  I  have  been  banging  hammers 
too  many  years.  But  what  I  want  to  say  is,  you  had  better,  so  soon  as 
your  visit  is  over,  come  along  back.  There  wasn't  a  bit  of  sense  in  your 
going  away.  Your  absence  breaks  up  the  equilibrium  of  the  Club 
amazingly.  The  whole  outfit  is  becoming  demoralized,  and  the  members 
are  growing  more  garrulous  than  so  many  magpies.  We  shall  look  for 
you  within  a  week.  We  all  want  to  see  you. 

Your  sincere  friend, 

ADRAIN  WRIGHT.. 

The  Colonel  responded  next : 

VIRGINIA  CITY,  August  i3th,  1878. 

MILLER  : — You  made  a  precious  old  fool  of  yourself,  rushing  off  as 
you  did.  Are  you  the  first  man  who  has  ever  been  deceived  by  Comstock 
"  dead  points  ?"  If  you  think  you  are,  try  and  explain  how  it  is  that 
while  some  thousands  of  bright  fellows  have  devotedly  pursued  the  busi 
ness  during  the  past  fifteen  years,  you  can,  in  five  minutes,  count  on  your 
fingers  all  that  have  saved  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  at  the  business. 

The  whole  Club  join  me  in  saying  that  you  ought  to  return  without 
delay.  Yours  truly, 

SAVAGE. 

The  Professor's  letter,  which  was  next  read,  was  as 
follows : 

VIRGINIA  CITY,  August  i3th,  1878. 

DEAR  MILLER  : — We  do  not  like  your  going  away.  The  act  was 
deficient  in  candor,  and  seems  to  have  a  look  as  though  you  estimated 
yourself  or  the  Club  at  too  low  a  figure.  Suppose  you  did  get  a  little  off; 
the  true  business  would  have  been  to  have  told  us  all  about  it.  We  would 
have  "put  up  the  mud"  and  carried  the  thing  along  until  it  came  your 
way.  But  what  is  done  is  done  ?  The  thing  to  decide  now  is  what  it  is 
best  for  you  to  do.  Austin  is  no  place  for  you.  The  mines  there  are  rich, 
but  the  veins  are  small  and  the  district  restricted.  In  that  camp  the  for 
mation  makes  impossible  the  creation  of  a  big  body  of  ore.  The  fissures 
are  necessarily  small.  You  would  die  of  asphyxia  within  a  month  or  go 
blind  searching  for  a  place  where  an  ore  body  "  could  make."  Eureka  is 
open  to  other  objections.  It  would  require  six  months  for  you  to  become 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  25! 

acclimated  there,  and  the  chances  are  that  within  that  time  you  would  be 
tied  up  in  a  knot  with  lead  colic.  The  proper  course  to  pursue  is  to  come 
back.  The  Club  are  all  agreed  on  that  proposition.  Yours  truly, 

STONEMAN 

Ashley's  letter,  in  these  words,  followed  : 

VIRGINIA  CITY,  August  I3th,  1878. 

DEAR  FRIEND  JOE  : — Your  going  away  has  caused  us  ever  so  much 
trouble.  It  was  foolish  and  cruel  of  you  to  imagine — even  when  you  were 
in  trouble — that  any  of  the  Club  weighed  friendship  on  old-fashioned  placer 
diggings  gold  scales.  We  are  sorry  for  your  misfortune,  but  it  is  on  your 
account  that  we  are  sorry.  It  is  not  so  serious  that  it  cannot  be  made  up 
in  a  little  while,  if  you  do  not  persist  in  remaining  in  some  place  where 
there  are  no  opportunities  to  do  any  good  for  yourself.  It  may  be  a  long 
time,  among  strangers,  before  you  can  obtain  employment.  Because  you 
have  made  one  mistake  do  not  make  another,  but  without  delay  come 
back.  This  is  Tuesday.  It  will  take  you  until  about  Saturday  next  to  get 
to  Austin.  You  will  be  pretty  badly  used  up  and  will  have  to  rest  a  day. 
But  on  Sunday  evening  you  ought  to  start  back  by  stage  and  rail.  That 
will  bring  you  home  a  week  from  to-day.  A  week  from  to-night,  then,  we 
shall  expect  your  account  of  how  big  the  mosquitoes  are  at  the  Sink  of  the 
Carson,  and  what  your  opinion  is  of  Churchill  county  as  a  location  for  a 
country  residence.  Yours  fraternally, 

HERBERT  ASHLEY. 

Alex's  letter  was  very  brief,  as  follows : 

VIRGINIA  CITY,  August  i3th,  1878. 

Come  back,  Joe.  Were  your  precedent  to  be  strictly  followed,  we 
should  suddenly  lose  a  majority  of  our  most  respected  citizens.  In  the 
interest  of  society  and  of  the  Club  come.  ALEX. 

To  MR.  JOE  MILLER,  Austin. 

Corrigan  did  not  like  to  read  his  letter,  but  the 
Club  insisted,  and  after  declaring  that  the  Club 
would  get  "a  dale  the  worst  of  it,"  he  proceeded  as 
follows  : 

VIRGINIA  CITY,  Nevada,  August  isth,  1878. 

DEAR  OULD  Jo: — It's  murthered  yez  ought  to  be  for  doing  ony thing 
phat  compils  me  to  write  you  a  lether.  Whin  I  commince  to  write  I  fale 
as  though  all  the  air  pipes  were  shut  off  intoirely.  I  would  sooner  pick  up 
a  thousand  dollars  in  the  strate,  ony  day,  than  to  have  to  hould  a  pin  in 
me  hand  and  make  sinse  in  my  head  at  the  same  moment.  Ye  know  that 
same,  too, and  hince  phy  did  yez  go  away  and  force  all  this  work  upon  me? 
Is  it  in  love  wid  horseback  exercise  that  ye  are?  We  have  been  talkin' 
your  case  over,  quiet  loike,  in  the  Club,  and  we  have  unanimously  rached 


252  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

the  irresistible  conclusion  that  it  was  an  unpatriotic  thing  for  yez  to  do — to 
propose  this  Club  business  and  thin  desart  it  just  whin  our  habits'  had 
become  fixed,  so  to  spake;  and  it  would  become  a  matter  of  sarious  incon- 
vanience  for  us  to  change.  In  this  wourld  a  man  can  shirk  onything 
excipt  his  duty,  and  it  is  a  plain  proposition  that  it  is  your  duty  immejitely 
to  come  back.  My  poor  fingers  are  cramped  to  near  brakin'  by  this  vvritin'. 
and  it  is  your  fault,  the  whole  of  it,  ond  I  pray  yez,  don't  let  it  happen 
ony  more.  Faithfully, 

B.  CORRIGAN. 

P.  S. — Should  you  nade  a  bit  of  coin  to  return  comfortably  draw  on 
me  through  W.,  F.  &  Co.  BARNEY. 

Harding  read  next: 

VIRGINIA,  August  i3th,  1878. 

DEAR  FRIEND  MILLER: — Enclosed  I  send  certificate  of  deposit  for 
$100.  The  Club  desire,  unanimously,  that  you  return  without  a  moment's 
unnecessary  delay.  All  agree  that  this  is  the  best  field  for  you.  I  will  see 
the  foreman  in  the  morning,  tell  him  you  have  been  called  away  for  a 
week  and  get  him  to  hold  your  place  for  you.  It  was  very  wicked  of  you 
to  go  away.  You  can  only  get  forgiveness  by  hurrying  back. 

Lovingly,  HARDING. 

Brewster's  was  the  final  letter,  and  was  in  these 
words : 

VIRGIIA  City,  Nevada.          ) 
8th  month,  isth  day,  A.  D.   1878.  f 
MR.  JOSEPH  MILLER: 

DEAR  SIR  AND  FRIEND: — I  have  this  evening,  with  great  pain, 
learned  that  you  have  left  this  place,  and  moreover,  have  heard  explained 
the  reasons  which  prompted  that  course  on  your  part.  It  would  be  a  lack 
of  candor  on  my  part  not  to  inform  you  that  I  sincerely  deplore  the  wrong 
which  you  have  done  yourself  and  us.  At  the  same  time  I  believe  that 
the  real  date  of  the  wrong  was  when  you  permitted  yourself  first  to  engage 
in  stock  gambling.  This  world  is  framed  on  a  foundation  of  perfect  jus 
tice.  The  books  of  the  Infinite  always  exactly  balance.  In  the  beginning 
it  was  decreed  that  man  should  have  nothing  except  what  he  earned.  It 
was  meant  that  the  world's  accumulations  of  treasures — in  money,  in 
brain,  in  love,  or  in  any  other  material  that  man  holds  dear — should,  from 
day  to  day,  and  from  year  to  year,  represent  simply  the  honest  effort  put 
forth  to  produce  the  treasure. 

Men  have  changed  this  in  form.  Some  men  get  what  they  have  not 
earned;  but  the  rule  is  inexorable  and  cannot  be  changed-  The  books 
must  balance 

So  when  one  man  gets  more  than  his  share,  the  amount  has  to  be 
made  up  by  the  toil  of  some  other  man  or  men.  This  last  is  what  you 
have  been  called  upon  to  do,  and,  naturally,  you  suffer. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  253 

But  I  acquit  you  of  any  sinister  intention  toward  us.  So  do  we  all. 
Your  fault  was  when  you  first  attempted  to  set  aside  God's  law.  You 
may  recall  what  was  said  a  few  nights  ago.  "  The  decree  which  was  read 
at  Eden's  gate  is  still  in  full  force,  and  behind  it,  just  as  of  old,  flashes  the 
flaming  sword." 

We  have  thoughtfully  considered  your  case.  The  unanimous  con 
clusion  is  that  you  should  at  once  return;  that  here  among  friends  and 
acquaintances,  with  the  heavy  work  which  is  going  on,  you  have  a  far 
better  opportunity  to  recover  your  lost  ground  than  you  possibly  could 
among  strangers. 

Moreover,  you  are  familiar  with  this  lode  and  the  manner  of  working 
these  mines.  You  are  likewise  accustomed  to  this  climate,  hence  I  con 
clude  that  your  chances  against  accident  or  disease  would  be  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  per  cent,  in  favor  of  your  returning. 

In  conclusion,  I  beg,  without  meaning  any  offense,  but  on  the  other 
hand,  with  a  sincere  desire  to  serve  you  to  say  that  I  have  a  few  hundred 
dollars  on  hand,  enough  perhaps  to  cover  all  your  indebtedness  here.  If 
you  would  care  to  use  it,  it  shall  be  yours,  in  hearty  welcome,  until  such 
time  as  you  can  conveniently  return  it. 

I  beg,  sir,  to  subscribe  myself  your  friend  and  servant, 

JAMES   BREWSTER. 

"God  bless  you,  Brewster,"  said  Harding,  impetu 
ously. 

"  That  is  a  boss  letther;"  said  Corrigan. 

"  I  could  not  do  better  than  that  myself,"  was  Ash 
ley's  comment. 

"  It  is  a  diamond  drill,  and  strikes  a  bonanza  on 
the  lower  level,"  said  Carlin. 

"  The  formation  is  good,  the  pay  chute  large,  the 
trend  of  the  lode  most  regular,  the  trade  of  the  ore 
splendid,"  said  the  Professor. 

Wright  said  :    "  It  is  a  good  letter  sure." 

"  It  reads  as  I  fancy  the  photographs  of  the  Angels 
of  Mercy  and  Justice  look  when  taken  together," 
suggested  Alex. 

The  Colonel  remarked  that  the  letter  established 
the  fact  that  Brewster  was  not  so  bad  a  man  as  he 
looked  to  be. 


254  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

What  should  be  sent  to  Miller  was  next  discussed 
again.  It  was  finally  determined  that  all  the  letters 
should  be  sent  except  Harding's;  that  he  should  re 
write  his,  and  instead  of  sending  the  certificate  of 
deposit,  should,  like  Corrigan,  instruct  Miller  to  draw 
on  him  if  he  needed  money,  and  that  any  such  drafts 
should  be  shared  by  the  whole  Club. 

Then  the  money  to  pay  the  bills  was  raised  among 
the  old  members  of  the  Club,  and  placed  in  Carlin's 
hands  to  be  paid  out  next  day. 

When  all  was  finished  a  sort  of  heaviness  came 
upon  the  company.  There  was  an  impression  of  sor 
row  upon  them.  They  had  been  happy  in  their  inno 
cent  enjoyment,  but  suddenly  one  who  was  a  favor 
ite,  who  was  at  heart  the  most  generous  one  of  the 
company,  had  failed  them,  and  they  brooded  over 
the  change. 

At  length  Harding  roused  himself  and  said:  "  Mil 
ler  must  be  sleeping  somewhere  down  in  the  desert 
to-night.  I  wish  I  could  call  to  him  by  telephone 
and  bring  him  back." 

"  That  reminds  me,"  said  Alex,  "of  something  that 
I  heard  of  yesterday.  Down  at  the  Sister's  Academy 
there  is  a  telephone.  There  is  a  little  miss  attending 
that  school,  and  every  morning  at  a  certain  hour 
there  is  a  ring  at  a  certain  house  down  town.  The 
response  goes  back,  '  Who  is  it?'  and  then  the  con 
versation  goes  on  as  follows :  "  Is  that  you,  papa  ?" 
'Yes!'  'Good  morning,  papa!'  'Good  morning, 
little  one.'  '  Is  mamma  there?'  'Yes.'  '  Say  good- 
morning  and  give  my  love  to  mamma.  '  Yes.'  '  Good 
bye.'  '  Good-bye.' 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUli.  255 

"In  the  evening  the  same  call  is  made  ;  the  same 
answer;  and  then  from  the  still  convent  on  noiseless 
pinions  these  words  go  out  through  the  night,  and 
pulsate  on  the  father's  ear  :  '  Good-night,  papa  ! 
Good-night,  mamma  !  a  kiss  for  each  of  you  ! '  and 
then  the  weird  instrument  materializes  two  kisses  for 
the  father's  ear. 

"  He  is  a  rough  fellow,  but  he  declares  that  since 
he  commenced  to  receive  those  kisses,  he  knows  that 
an  answer  to  prayer  is  not  impossible ;  that  if  that 
child's  voice  can  come  to  him,  stealing  past  the  night 
patrol  unheard,  stealing  in  clear  and  distinct  and  like 
a  benediction,  while  the  winds  and  the  city  are  roar 
ing  outside,  there  is  nothing  wonderful  in  believing 
that  on  the  invisible  wire  of  faith  the  same  voice 
could  send  its  music  to  the  furthest  star,  and  that  the 
Great  Father  would  bend  His  ear  to  listen." 

"  It  is  a  pretty  story,"  said  Brewster.  "The  tele, 
phone  is  the  most  poetical  of  inventions.  There  is 
a  metallic  sound  to  the  click  of  the  telegraph,  as 
though  its  chief  use  was  to  further  the  work  and  the 
worry  of  mankind.  There  is  something  like  a  sob  to 
the  perfecting  press,  as  though  saddened  by  the  very 
thought  of  the  abuses  it  must  reform.  There  is  some 
thing  about  a  steam  engine  which  reminds  one  of 
the  heavy  respirations  of  the  slave,  toiling  on  his 
chain,  but  the  telephone  has  a  voice  for  but  one  ear 
at  a  time,  and  when  it  is  a  voice  that  we  love  its 
messages  come  like  caresses. 

"  Not  the  least  of  its  triumphs  is  that  it  has  broken 
the  silence  of  the  convent. 

"At  last  voices  from  the  outer  world  thrill  through 


256  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUIJ. 

the  thick  walls,  and  the  patient  women  who  are 
immured  there  hear  the  good-nights  and  the  kisses 
which  by  loving  lips  are  sent  away  to  loving  homes. 
How  their  starved  hearts  must  be  thrilled  by  those 
messages  !  Sometimes,  too,  they  must  realize  that 
the  course  of  Nature  cannot  be  changed  ;  that  the 
beginning  of  heaven  is  in  the  love  which  cano 
pies  true  homes  on  earth.  But  with  that  thought 
there  comes  another,  that  from  the  Infinite,  to  pal 
ace,  convent  and  humble  homes  alike,  celestial  wires, 
too  fine  for  mortal  eyes  to  discern,  stretch  down,  and 
all  alike  are  held  in  one  sheltering  hand.  Some 
time  all  these  wires  will  work  in  accord,  and  the 
good-nights  and  the  kisses  in  the  souls  of  men  will 
materialize  into  harmony  and  fill  the  world  with  music/' 

"  That  is,  Brewster,"  said  Corrigan,  "  supposin'  the 
wires  do  not  get  crossed  and  the  girls  do  not  kiss  the 
wrong  papas." 

"  Suppose,  Brewster,"  said  the  Colonel,  "that  at 
the  final  concert  it  shall  be  discovered  that  certain 
gentlemen  have  not  settled  their  monthly  rents  for  a 
long  time,  and  their  connection  has  been  cut  off?" 

"  There  is  no  music  where  there  are  no  ears  to 
hear,"  said  Wright.  "  What  if  some  souls  are  born 
deaf  and  dumb  ?  " 

"  Suppose,"  said  the  Professor,  "  that  there  are 
souls  which  have  no  ear  for  music  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know,"  said  Brewster,  "but  I  fancy  that 
the  fairest  final  prizes  may  not  be  to  the  best 
musicians,  but  to  those  who  made  the  sorest  sacri 
fices  in  order  to  get  a  ticket  to  the  concert." 

With  this  the  good-nights  were  repeated. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

At  length  there  came  a  day  when  there  was  real 
trouble  in  the  Club.  The  foreman  of  the  mine  in 
which  Wright  was  at  work  ordered  Wright  and  a  fel 
low  miner  to  go  to  the  surface  to  assist  in  handling 
some  machinery  which  was  to  be  sent  down  into  the 
mine. 

The  two  men  stepped  upon  the  cage  and  three 
bells  were  sounded — the  signal  to  the  engineer  at  the 
surface  that  men  were  to  be  hoisted  and  all  care 
used. 

The  cage  started  from  the  two-thousand-four-hun 
dred-foot  level.  Nothing  unusual  happened  until, 
as  they  neared  the  surface,  Wright  said  to  his  com 
rade  :  "  By  the  way  we  are  passing  the  levels,  it  seems 
to  me  they  must  be  in  a  hurry  on  top." 

The  other  miner  answered  :  "  I  guess  it  is  all  right ;" 
but  hardly  were  the  words  spoken,  when  they  shot 
up  into  the  light ;  in  an  instant  the  cage  went  crash 
ing  into  the  sheaves  and  was  crushed,  the  men  being 
thrown  violently  out. 

Wright's  companion,  as  he  fell,  struck  partly  on 
the  curbing  of  the  shaft,  rolled  in  and  was  of  course 
dashed  to  pieces. 

Wright  was  thrown  outside  the  shaft,  and  though 
not  killed  outright,  two  or  three  ribs  were  broken, 
one  lung  was  badly  injured  besides  he  was  otherwise 
terribly  bruised. 

257 


258  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

People  unfamiliar  with  mining  may  riot  understand 
the  above.  On  the  Comstock  the  hoisting  engines 
are  set  from  forty  to  eighty  feet  from  the  mouths  of 
the  shafts.  Directly  over  the  shafts  are  frames 
from  thirty  to  fifty  feet  in  height,  on  which  pulleys 
(rimmed  iron  wheels)  are  fastened.  The  cages  are 
lowered  and  raised  by  flat,  plaited,  steel  wire  cables, 
which  are  generally  four  or  five  inches  wide  and  about 
three-eights  of  an  inch  in  thickness. 

This  cable  is  first  coiled  on  the  reel  of  the  engine, 
then  the  loose  end  is  drawn  over  the  pulley,then  down 
to  the  cage,  to  which  it  is  made  fast.  The  wheel 
of  a  pulley  is  called  a  sheave,  and  by  habit  it  has  grown 
to  be  a  common  expression  to  call  the  block  and 
wheel  in  hoisting  works  "  the  sheaves."  At  intervals 
of  one  or  two  hundred  feet  on  the  cables  they  are 
wound  with  white  cloth,  as  a  guide  to  the  engineer, 
as  the  cable  is  uncoiled  in  lowering  or  coiled  in 
hoisting.  Also,  on  the  outer  rim  of  the  reel  is  a 
dial  with  figures  or  marks  at  regular  intervals,  and  a 
hand  (like  the  hand  of  a  clock)  which  perpetually 
indicates  to  the  engineer  about  where  the  cage  is  in 
all  stages  of  lowering  or  hoisting. 

These  engineers  work  eight-hour  shifts,  and  some 
times  twelve.  Of  the  nature  of  their  work  an  idea 
can  be  formed  by  the  statement  that  during  the  two 
or  three  years  when  the  great  Bonanza  in  the  Cali 
fornia  and  Con.  Virginia  mines  was  giving  up  its 
treasure,  through  two  double-compartment  shafts,  all 
the  work  of  those  two  mines  was  carried  on.  The 
main  ore  body  was  between  the  i,3OO-foot  and  1,700- 
foot  levels.  Every  day  from  six  hundred  to  eight 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  259 

hundred  men  were  lowered  into  and  hoisted  out  of 
the  mine.  One  hundred  thousand  feet  (square  meas 
ure)  of  timbers  were  lowered  daily  (three  million  feet 
per  month)  ;  nearly  or  quite  one  thousand  tons  of  ore 
was  hoisted  daily  ;  the  picks,  drills  and  gads  were 
sent  up  to  be  sharpened  and  returned;  the  powder  used 
and  five  tons  of  ice  daily  were  lowered,  and  besides  this 
work,  there  was  machinery  to  lower  and  hoist ;  the 
waste  rock  to  be  handled  and  visitors  and  officers  of 
the  mine  to  be  lowered  and  hoisted.  The  cages  are 
about  four  feet  six  inches  in  length  and  three  feet  in 
width,  and  are  simply  iron  frames  with  a  wooden 
floor  and  iron  bonnet  over  the  top  and  made  to 
exactly  fit  the  size  of  the  shaft.  Three  of  these  com 
partments  had  double  cages — one  above  another,  and 
one  had  three  cages.  A  three-decker  carries  three 
tons  of  ore  or  twenty-seven  men  at  a  time. 

Of  course  when  such  work  is  being  driven,  the  eyes 
of  an  engineer  have  to  be  every  moment  on  their 
work.  Men  follow  the  occupation  for  months  and 
years  without  an  accident  or  mistake,  but  now  and 
then,  through  the  ceaseless  strain,  their  nerves 
break  down  ;  something  like  an  aberration  of  the 
mind  comes  over  them  and  they  watch,  dazed-like 
sleep-walkers,  as  the  cage  shoots  out  of  the  shaft  and 
mounts  up  into  the  sheaves,  and  cannot  command 
themselves  enough  to  move  the  lever  of  the  engine 
which  is  in  their  hand. 

Such  an  accident  as  this  overtook  Wright  and  his 
companion.  Poor  Wright  was  carried  home  by 
brother  miners.  The  accident  happened  only  about 
an  hour  before  the  time  for  changing  shifts  and 


260  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

hardly  was  Wright  laid  in  his  bed  before  the  other 
members  of  the  Club  met  at  their  home. 

The  best  surgical  talent  of  the  city  was  called  ;  the 
members  of  the  Club  took  turns  in  watching  ;  there 
was  not  a  moment  that  one  or  the  other  was  not 
bending  over  their  friend. 

At  first,  when  he  rallied  from  the  shock  of  the 
injury,  Wright  told  all  about  the  accident.  He  fur 
ther  told  his  friends  that  he  had  no  near  relatives; 
instructed  the  Club,  in  the  event  of  his  death,  to 
open  his  trunk,  burn  the  papers  and  divide  the  little 
money  there  among  themselves,  designated  little 
presents  for  each  one  and  said:  "Miller  will  be  grieved 
if  I  die,  and  may  think  my  heart  was  not  altogether 
warm  toward  him,  so  give  him  my  watch;  it  is  the 
most  valuable  trinket  that  I  have." 

When  the  first  reaction  from  the  shock  came,  his 
friends  were  encouraged  to  believe  he  would  recover; 
but  it  was  a  vain  hope.  He  soon  went  into  a  half- 
unconscious,  half-delirious  state,  from  which  it  was 
hard  to  rouse  him  for  even  a  few  minutes  at  a  time. 

He  lay  that  way  for  two  days  and  nights  and  then 
died. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  it  was  clear 
that  he  was  almost  gone — the  spray  began  to  splash 
upon  his  brow  from  the  dark  river — and  all  the  Club 
grouped  around  him. 

Out  of  the  shadow  of  death  his  mind  cleared  for  a 
moment.  In  almost  his  old  natural  tones,  but  weak, 
like  the  voices  heard  through  a  telephone,  he  said  : 

"I  have  seen  another  mirage,  boys.  It  was  the 
old  home  under  the  Osage  shadows.  It  was  all  plain  ; 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  26 1 

the  old  house,  the  orchard,  the  maples  were  red  in 
the  autumn  sun,  and  my  mother,  who  died  long  ago, 
seemed  to  be  there,  smiling  and  holding  out  her  arms 
to  me. 

"  It  was  all  real,  but  you  don't  know  how  tired  I 
am.  Carlin,  old  friend,  turn  me  a  little  on  my  side 
and  let  me  sleep." 

Gently  as  mothers  move  their  helpless  babes,  the 
strong  miner  turned  his  friend  upon  his  pillows. 

He  breathed  shorter  and  shorter  for  a  few  min 
utes,  then  one  long  sigh  came  from  his  mangled 
breast  and  all  was  still. 

There  was  perfect  silence  in  the  room  for  perhaps 
five  minutes.  Then  Brewster,  with  a  voice  full  of 
tears,  said  :  "  God  grant  that  the  mirage  is  now  to 
him  a  delicious  reality,"  and  all  the  rest  responded, 
4t  Amen." 

The  undertaker  came,  the  body  was  dressed  for 
the  grave  and  placed  in  a  casket,  and  the  Club  took 
up  their  watch  around  it. 

Now  and  then  a  subdued  word  was  spoken,  but 
they  were  very  few.  The  hearts  of  the  watchers  were 
all  full,  and  conversation  seemed  out  of  place. 
Wright  was  one  of  the  most  manly  of  men,  and  the 
hearts  of  the  friends  were  very  sore.  The  evening 
wore  on  until  ten  o'clock  came,  when  there  fell  a 
gentle  knock  on  the  outer  door.  The  door  was 
opened  and  by  the  moonlight  four  men  could  be  seen 
outside.  One  of  them  spoke  : 

"  We  'card  as  'ow  Hadrian  wur  gone,  and  thot  to 
sing  a  wee  bit  to  he  as  'ow  the  lad  might  be  glad." 


262  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

They  were  the  famous  quartette  of  Cornish  miners 
and  were  at  once  invited  in. 

They  filed  softly  into  the  room — the  Club  rising  as 
they  entered — and  circled  around  the  casket.  After 
along  look  upon  the  face  of  they  sleeper  they  stood  up 
and  sang  a  Cornish  lament.  Their  voices  were  simply 
glorious.  The  words,  simple  but  most  pathetic,  were 
set  to  a  plaintive  air,  the  refrain  of  each  stanza  end 
ing  in  some  minor  notes,  which  gave  the  impression 
that  tears  of  pity,  as  they  were  falling,  had  been 
caught  and  converted  into  music. 

The  effect  was  profound.  The  stoicism  of  the 
Club  was  completely  broken  down  by  it.  When  the 
lament  ceased  all  were  weeping,  while  warm-hearted 
and  impetuous  Corrigan  was  sobbing  like  a  grieved 
child. 

The  quartette  waited  a  moment  and  then  sang  a 
Cornish  farewell,  the  music  of  which,  though  mostly 
very  sad,  had,  here  and  there,  a  bar  or  two  such  as 
might  be  sung  around  the  cradle  of  Hope,  leaving  a 
thought  that  there  might  be  a  victory  even  over 
death,  and  which  made  the  hymn  ring  half  like  the 
Miserere  and  half  like  a  benediction. 

When  this  was  finished  and  the  quartette  had 
waited  a  moment  more,  with  their  magnificent 
voices  at  full  volume,  they  sang  again — a  requiem, 
which  was  almost  a  triumph  song,  beginning, 

Whatever  burdens  may  be  sent 

For  mortals  here  to  bear, 
It  matters  not  while  faith  survives 

And  God  still  answers  prayer. 
I  will  not  falter  though  my  path 

Leads  down  unto  the  grave  ; 
The    brave  man  will  accept  his  fate 

And  God  accepts  the  brave. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  263 

Then  with  a  gentle  "  Good-noight,  lads,"  they 
were  gone. 

It  was  still  in  the  room  again  until  Corrigan  said  : 
"  I  hope  Wright  heard  that  singin'  ;  the  last  song  in 
particular." 

"  Who  knows?"  said  Ashley.  "  It  was  all  silence 
here  ;  those  men  came  and  filled  the  place  with  music. 
Who  knows  that  it  will  not,  in  swelling  waves,  roll 
on  until  it  breaks  upon  the  upper  shore  ?" 

"Who  knows,"  said  Harding,  "that  he  did  not 
hear  it  sung  first  and  have  it  sent  this  way  to  comfort 
us  ?  I  thought  of  that  when  the  music  was  around 
us,  and  I  fancied  that  some  of  the  tones  were  like 
those  that  fell  from  Wright's  lips,  when,  in  extenu 
ation  of  Miller's  fault,  he  was  reminding  us  that  it 
was  the  intent  that  measured  the  wrong,  and  that 
Miller  never  intended  any  wrong.  Music  is  born 
above  and  comes  down  ;  its  native  place  is  not  here." 

"  He  does  not  care  for  music,"  said  .the  Colonel. 
"  See  how  softly  he  sleeps.  All  the  weariness  that  so 
oppressed  him  has  passed  away.  The  hush  of  eter 
nity  is  upon  him,  and  after  his  hard  life  that  is  sweeter 
than  all  else  could  be." 

"  Oh,  cease,  Colonel,"  said  Brewster.  "Out  <>i 
this  darkened  chamber  how  can  we  speak  as  by 
authority  of  what  is  beyond  ?  As  well  might  the 
mole  in  his  hole  attempt  to  tell  of  the  eagle's  flight. 

"  We  only  know  that  God  rules.  We  watched 
while  the  great  transition  came  to  our  friend.  One 
moment  in  the  old  voice  he  was  conversing  with  us  ; 
the  next  that  voice  was  gone,  but  we  do  not  believe 
that  it  is  lost.  As  we  were  saying  of  the  telephone, 


264  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

when  we  speak  those  only  a  few  feet  away  hear 
nothing.  The  words  die  upon  the  air,  and  we  explain 
to  ourselves  that  they  are  no  more.  But  thirty  miles 
away,  up  on  the  side  of  the  Sierras,  an  ear  is  listen 
ing,  and  every  tone  and  syllable  is  distinct  to  that 
ear.  Who  knows  what  connections  can  be  made 
with  those  other  heights  where  Peace  rules  with 
Love  ? 

"  Our  friend  whose  dust  lies  here  was  not  called 
from  nothing  simply  to  buffet  through  some  years  of 
toil  and  then  to  return  to  nothing  through  the  piti 
less  gates  of  Death.  To  believe  such  a  thing  would 
be  to  impeach  the  love,  the  mercy  and  the  wisdom  of 
God.  Wright  is  safe  somewhere  and  happier  than 
he  was  with  us.  I  should  not  wonder  if  Harding's 
theory  were  true,  and  that  it  was  to  comfort  us  that 
he  impelled  those  singers  to  come  here." 

"  Brewster,"  said  Alex,  "your  balance  is  disturbed 
to-night.  You  say  '  From  out  our  darkened  chamber 
we  cannot  see  the  light,'  and  then  go  on  to  assert  that 
Wright  is  happier  than  when  here.  You  do  not 
know  ;  you  hope  so,  that  is  all.  So  do  I,  and  by  the 
calm  that  has  pressed  its  signet  on  his  lips,  I  am  will 
ing  to  believe  that  all  that  was  of  him  is  as  much  at 
rest  as  is  his  throbless  heart,  and  that  the  mystery 
which  so  perplexes  us — this  something  which  one 
moment  greets  us  with  smiles  and  loving  words,  but 
which  a  moment  later  is  frozen  into  everlasting 
silence — is  all  clear  to  him  now.  I  hope  so,  else  the 
worlds  were  made  in  vain,  and  the  sun  in  heaven,  and 
all  the  stars  whose  white  fires  fill  the  night,  are 
worthy  of  as  little  reverence  as  a  sagebrush  flame  ; 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  265 

and  it  was  but  a  cruel  plan  which  permitted  men  to 
have  life,  to  kindle  in  their  brains  glorious  longings 
and  in  their  hearts  to  awaken  affections  more  dear 
than  life  itself." 

Then  Harding,  as  if  to  himself,  repeated :  "It 
matters  not  while  Faith  survives,  and  God  still 
answers  prayer." 

Half  an  hour  more  passed,  then  the  Colonel  arose, 
looked  long  on  the  face  in  the  casket  and  said : 

"  How  peaceful  is  his  sleep.  The  mystery  of  the 
unseen  brings  no  look  of  surprise  to  his  face.  Around 
him  is  the  calm  of  the  dreamless  bivouac  ;  the  brood 
ing  wings  of  eternal  rest  have  spread  their  hush 
above  him.  To-morrow  the  merciful  earth  will  open 
her  robes  of  serge  to  receive  him ;  in  her  ample 
bosom  will  fold  his  weary  limbs,  and  while  he  sleeps 
will  shade  his  eyes  from  the  light.  In  a  brief  time, 
save  to  the  few  of  us  who  love  him,  he  will  be  for 
gotten  among  men.  Days  will  dawn  and  set ;  the 
seasons  will  advance  and  recede  ;  the  years  will  ebb 
and  flow  ;  the  tempest  and  the  sunshine  will  alter 
nately  beat  upon  his  lonely  couch,  until  ere  long  it 
will  be  leveled  with  the  surrounding  earth  ;  his  body 
will  dissolve  into  its  original  elements  and  it  will  be 
as  though  he  had  never  lived.  The  great  ocean  of 
life  will  heave  and  swell,  and  there  will  be  no  one  to 
remember  this  drop  that  fell  upon  the  earth  in  spray 
and  was  lost. 

"  This  is  as  it  seems  to  us,  straining  our  dull  eyes 
out  upon  the  profound  beyond  our  petty  horizon. 
But  who  knows  ?  We  can  trace  the  thread  of  this 
life  as  it  was  until  it  passed  beyond  the  range  of  our 


266  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

visions,  but  who  of  us  knows  whether  it  was  all 
unwound  or  whether  in  the  '  beyond  '  it  became  a 
golden  chain  so  strong  that  even  Death  can  not 
break  it,  and  thrilled  with  harmonies  which  could 
never  vibrate  on  this  frail  thread  that  broke  to-day  ?  " 

Then  the  Colonel  sat  down  and  the  Professor  stood 
up,  and  with  his  left  hand  resting  on  the  casket,  said 

"  Three  days  ago  this  piece  of  crumbling  dust  was 
a  brave  soldier  of  piece.  I  mean  the  words  in  their 
fullest  sense.  Just  now  our  brothers  in  the  East  are 
fearful  lest  so  much  silver  will  be  produced  that  it 
will  become,  because  of  its  plentifulness,  unfit  to  be  a 
measure  of  values.  They  do  not  realize  what  it  costs 
or  they  would  change  their  minds.  They  do  not 
know  how  the  gnomes  guard  their  treasures,  or  what 
defense  Nature  uprears  around  her  jewels.  They 
revile  the  stamp  which  the  Government  has  placed 
upon  the  white  dollar.  Could  they  see  deeper 
they  would  perceive  other  stamps  still.  There 
would  be  blood  blotches  and  seams  made  by 
the  trickling  of  the  tears  of  widows  and  orphans,  for 
before  the  dollar  issues  bright  from  the  mint,  it  has 
to  be  sought  for  through  perils  which  make  uncon 
scious  heroes  of  those  who  prosecute  the  search.  For 
nearly  twenty  years  now,  on  this  lode,  tragedies  like 
this  have  been  going  on.  We  hear  it  said  :  '  A  man 
was  killed  to-day  in  the  Ophir/or  'A  man  was  dashed 
to  pieces  last  night  in  the  Justice, 'and  we  listen  to  it 
as  merely  the  rehearsal  of  not  unexpected  news. 
Could  a  list  of  the  men  who  have  been  killed  in 
this  lode  be  published,  it  would  be  an  appalling  show- 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  267 

ing.  It  would  outnumber  the  slain  of  some  great 
battle. 

"  Besides  the  deaths  by  violence,  hundreds  more, 
worn  out  by  the  heat  and  by  the  sudden  changes  of 
the  temperature  between  the  deep  mines  and  the 
outer  air,  have  drooped  and  died. 

••  The  effect  is  apparent  upon  our  miners.  Then- 
bearing  perplexes  strangers  who  come  here.  They  do 
not  know  that  in  the  conquests  of  labor  there  are 
fields  to  be  fought  over  which  turn  volunteers  into 
veteran  soldiers  quite  as  rapidly  as  real  battle  fields. 
They  know  nothing  about  storming  the  depths  ;  or 
breaking  down  the  defences  of  the  deep  hills.  They 
cannot  comprehend  that  the  quiet  men  whom  they 
meet  here  on  the  streets  are  in  the  habit  of  shaking 
hands  with  Death  daily  until  they  have  learned  to 
follow  without  emotion  the  path  of  duty,  let  it  lead 
where  it  may,  and  to  accept  whatever  may  come  as  a 
matter  of  course. 

"  Such  an  one  was  this  our  friend,  who  fell  at  his 
post;  fell  in  the  strength  of  his  manhood,  and  when 
his  great  heart  was  throbbing  only  in  kindness  to  all 
the  world. 

"  One  moment  he  exulted  in  his  splendid  life,  the 
next  he  was  mangled  and  crushed  beyond  recovery. 

"  Still  there  was  no  repining,  no  spoken  regrets. 
For  years  the  possibility  of  such  a  fate  as  this  had 
been  before  his  eyes  steadily ;  it  brought  much 
anguish  to  him,  but  no  surprise. 

"He  had  lived  a  blameless  life.  As  it  drew  near 
its  close  the  vision  of  his  mother  was  mercifully  sent 
to  him,  and  so  in  his  second  birth  the  same  arms 


268  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

received  him  that  cradled  him  when  before  he  was  as 
helpless  as  he  is  now. 

"  By  the  peace  that  is  upon  him,  I  believe  those 
arms  are  around  his  soul  to-night  ;  I  believe  he  would 
not  be  back  among  us  if  he  could. 

"  We  have  a  right  on  our  own  account  to  grieve 
that  he  is  gone,  but  not  on  his.  He  filled  on  earth 
the  full  measure  of  an  honest,  honorable,  brave  and 
true  life.  That  record  went  before  him  to  Summer 
Land.  I  believe  it  is  enough  and  that  he  needs 
neither  tears  nor  regrets." 

The  Professor  sat  down  and  Corrigan  then  arose 
and  went  and  looked  long  and  fondly  upon  the 
upturned  face.  At  last  in  a  low  voice  he  said  : 

"  Ould  frind,  if  yez  can,  give  me  a  sign  some  time 
that  something  was  saved  from  this  mighty  wrick.  I 
will  listen  for  the  call  in  the  dape  night.  I  will  lis 
ten  by  the  timbers  in  the  dape  drifts  ;  come  back  if 
yez  can  and  give  us  a  hope  that  there  will  be  hand, 
clasps  and  wilcomes  for  us  whin  the  last  shift  shall  be 
worked  out." 

So  one  after  the  other  talked  until  the  night  stole 
away  before  the  smile  of  the  dawn.  Harding  pulled 
aside  the  curtains,  and  at  that  moment  the  sun,  pano 
plied  in  glory,  shed  rosy  tints  all  over  the  desert  to 
the  eastward. 

"  See,"  said  Harding.  "  It  was  on  such  a  morning 
as  this  that  on  the  desert  was  painted  the  mirage 
which  troubled  poor  Wright  so  much,  until  the  clearer 
light  drove  it  away.  Let  us  hope  that  there  are  no 

refractions  of  the   rays    to   bring    fear  to  him  where 

•      •    >> 
he  is. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 


269 


There  was  the  usual  inquest,  and  on  the  second 
day  after  his  death,  Wright  was  buried.  After  the 
funeral  his  effects  were  looked  over ;  the  bills  were 
paid,  a  simple  stone  was  ordered  to  be  placed  over 
his  grave,  and  his  money,  some  few  hundred  dollars, 
was  divided  among  the  hospitals  of  the  city. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

A  few  days  more  went  by,  but  the  old  joy  of  the 
Club  was  no  more. 

Wright  was  gone,  and  all  that  had  been  heard  from 
Miller  was  a  brief  note  thanking  the  Club  for  their 
kindness,  but  giving  no  intimation  that  he  contem 
plated  returning. 

One  morning  about  the  twenty-fifth  of  the  month 
the  five  miners  who  were  left  went  away  to  their 
work  as  usual,  but  all  were  unusually  depressed,  as 
though  a  sense  of  sorrow  or  of  approaching  sorrow 
was  upon  them. 

As  said  before,  Brerwster  was  working  in  the  Bull 
ion.  Toward  noon  of  this  day  word  was  passed 
down  into  the  other  mines  that  an  accident  was 
reported  in  the  Bullion  ;  some  said  it  was  a  cave  and 
some  that  it  was  a  fire,  but  it  was  not  certainly 
known. 

Each  underground  foreman  and  boss  was  instructed 
to  see  that  the  bulkheads,  which,  when  closed,  shut 
off  the  underground  connections  between  the  several 

<j 

mines,  were  made  ready  to  be  closed  at  a  moment's 
notice,  in  case  the  accident  proved  to  be  a  fire.  The 
whisper  of  "  fire  in  the  mine  "  is  a  terrible  one  on  the 
Comstock,  for  in  the  deeps  there  are  dried  timbers 
sufficient  to  build  a  great  city,  and  once  on  fire  they 
would  make  a  roaring  hell. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  271 

When  the  news  of  an  accident  in  the  Bullion  was 
circulated  in  the  other  mines,  but  one  thought  took 
form  in  the  minds  of  the  other  four  members  of  the 
Club.  Brewster  was  working  in  the  Bullion,  and  it 
might  be  that  he  was  in  peril. 

Within  half  an  hour,  and  almost  at  the  same 
moment,  Carlin,  Corrigan,  Ashley  and  Harding 
appeared  at  the  Bullion  hoisting  works. 

The  superintendent  stood  at  the  shaft,  and 
though  perfectly  self-contained,  he  was  very  pale,  and 
it  needed  but  a  glance  at  his  face  to  know  that  he  was 
either  suffering  physically  or  was  greatly  troubled. 
By  this  time,  too,  the  wives  of  the  miners  at  work  in 
the  Bullion  had  commenced  to  gather  around  the 
works. 

Mingled  with  the  condensing  vapors  at  the  mouth 
of  the  shaft,  there  was  the  ominous  odor  of  burning 
timbers. 

Just  as  the  Club  miners  entered  the  Bullion 
works,  the  bell  struck  and  the  cage  came  rapidly  to 
the  surface.  There  was  nothing  on  the  cage,  but  tied 
to  one  of  the  iron  braces  was  a  slip  of  paper.  This  the 
superintendent  seized  and  eagerly  scanned. 

Turning  to  a  miner  who  stood  near,  he  said : 
"  Sandy,  go  outside  and  tell  those  women  to  go 
home.  *  Say  to  them  that  the  accident  involves  only 
one  man,  and  he  has  no  family  here.  His  name  is 
Brewster,  and  we  hope  to  save  him  yet." 

At  this  the  four  members  of  the  Club  sprang  to 
the  shaft  and  demanded  to  be  let  down. 

They  were  sternly  ordered  back  by  the  superin 
tendent. 


272  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  But,"  said  Carlin,  fiercely,  "  this  man  whom  you 
have  named  is  like  a  brother  to  us ;  if  he  is  in  danger 
we  must  go  to  his  rescue."  , 

The  rest  were  quite  as  eager  in  their  demands. 
Seeing  how  earnest  they  were,  the  superintendent 
said:  "You  are  strangers  to  the  mine.  The  whole 
working  force  from  all  the  levels  has  been  sent  to 
the  point  of  the  accident.  You  would  only  be  in  the 
way." 

But  they  still  insisted,  vehemently.  Said  Ashley  : 
"  Your  men  are  working  for  money,  and  will  take  no 
risks  ;  it  is  different  with  us." 

"  You  do  not  know  what  you  are  doing  in  refusing 
us,"  said  Harding  ;  "that  man's  life  is  worth  a  thou 
sand  ordinary  lives." 

"  Suppose  your  brother  were  in  danger  and  some 
man  stood  in  the  way  forbidding  you  to  go  to  him, 
what  would  you  think  ?"  asked  Carlin. 

"  Ye  are  superintindint  and  rule  this  mine,"  said 
Corrigan,  "but  yez  have  no  rule  over  min's  lives,  and 
this  is  a  matter  of  the  grandest  life  upon  the  lode, 
and  yez  have  no  right  to  refuse  us." 

"Very  well,"  said  the  superintendent;  "if  you 
men  can  be  of  any  possible  use  you  shall  be  sent 
down." 

On  a  bit  of  paper  he  wrote  a  brief  note,  tied  it  to 
the  frame  of  the  cage  and  sent  it  down.  When  the 
cage  disappeared  in  the  shaft,  he  turned  to  the  men 
and  explained  that  he  had  been  upon  the  surface  but 
a  few  minutes  ;  that  Ijng  before  a  drift  had  been  run 
off  from  the  main  gallery  at  the  twenty-one  hundred 
foot  level  some  fifty  feet  through  ground  so  hard 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB  273 

that  it  had  never  required  timbering.  At  the  farther 
end  soft  ground  had  been  encountered  and  a  stringer 
of  ore.  Following  this  stringer  a  lateral  drift  had 
been  run  some  fifty  feet  each  way.  This  lateral  drift 
was  timbered  when  it  was  run.  No  ore  of  any  value 
having  been  uncovered  the  work  was  abandoned, 
and  since  then  the  drift  had  been  used  as  a  storage  place 
for  powder  and  candles.  That  morning  the  foreman 
had  gone  into  this  drift  with  a  surveyor  to  establish 
some  point  which  the  engineer  required.  To  assist 
the  surveyor  the  foreman  had  stuck  his  candlestick 
into  a  timber  and  had  gone  with  the  surveyor  to  one 
end  of  this  lateral  drift. 

Looking  back  they  saw  that  the  candle  had  fallen 
against  the  timber,  which  was  dry  as  tinder. 

It  had  caught  on  fire  and  the  flame  had  already 
run  up  and  was  in  the  lagging. 

They  rushed  back,  and  though  not  seriously  in 
jured,  were  pretty  badly  scorched.  All  the  miners 
in  the  mine  were  called  to  that  point,  and  the  work 
of  putting  out  the  fire,  or  of  keeping  it  from  con 
necting  with  the  main  drift,  was  begun.  The  superin 
tendent  was  at  the  time  on  the  twenty-four  hundred- 
foot  level.  He  had  hastened  to  the  spot  at  the  first 
alarm.  A  donkey  pump  was  at  the  twenty-one  hun 
dred-foot  station,  with  plenty  of  hose.  This  was 
running  within  fifteen  minutes.  The  fire,  after  burn 
ing  a  little  way  in  each  direction  along  the  lateral 
drift,  exhausting  the  oxygen  in  the  air,  ceased  to 
flame  and  just  burrowed  its  way  through  the  timbers. 
This  produced  a  dense  and  sifting  smoke. 


274  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

A  heavy  stream  of  water  was  turned  into  this  drift, 
the  superintendent  directing  the  work  until,  under  the 
heat  and  smoke,  he  had  fainted  and  been  brought  to 
the  surface. 

Holding  up  the  note  which  "had  come  up  on  the 
ca<je,  he  said  the  man  Brewster  who  was  holding  the 

^>     *  o 

nozzle  of  the  hose  had  gone  too  far  into  the  drift, 
under  where  the  lagging  had  burned  away,  and  had 
been  caught  in  a  cave,  but  the  rest  were  working  to 
release  him. 

The  bell  sounded  again  and  in  three  minutes  the 
cage  shot  out  of  the  shaft.  The  paper  which  it 
brought  had  only  these  few  words  :  "  If  you  can  send 
two  first-class  miners,  all  right,  but  not  more.  Any 
others  would  only  be  in  the  way.  It  is  a  very  dan. 
gerous  place,  don't  send  any  but  thorough  men." 
This  was  signed  by  the  foreman. 

When  the  superintendent  read  the  note  the  four 
men  rushed  forward,  and  for  a  moment  their  clamors 
were  indescribable, 

"It  is  my  place  to  go,"  said  Ashley,  "  I  have  as 
little  to  live  for  as  any  of  you.  Do  not  hold  me 
back." 

"  Stand  back,"  said  Harding.  "  I  would  rather 
never  go  home  than  not  to  go  with  Brewster." 

Seizing  Harding  by  the  arm,  Carlin  hurled  him 
back,  exclaiming:  "Art  crazy,  boy  ?  Your  bark  is 
but  just  launched  ;  this  is  work  for  old  hulks  that  are 
used  to  rocks  and  storms." 

Over  all  the  voice  of  Corrigan  rang  out :  "  Hould, 
men  !  This  is  me  place.  Me  life  has  been  but  a  fail 
ure.  I  will  make  what  amind  I  can,"  and  he  sprang 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  275 

upon  the  cage,  and,  seizing  a  brace  with  either  hand, 
turned  his  glittering  eyes  upon  his  friends. 

At  length  over  the  bable  the  voice  of  the  superin 
tendent  was  heard  commanding  "  Silence  !  " 

"  You  all  alike  seemed  determined,"  he  said,  "  but 
only  two  can  go.  You  will  have  to  draw  lots  to 
decide."  This  proposition  was  with  many  murmurs 
agreed  to.  The  superintendent  prepared  four  bits  of 
paper,  two  long  and  two  short  ones.  He  placed  the 
slips  in  his  hat,  and,  holding  it  above  the  level  of  the 
men's  eyes,  said  :  "  You  will  each  draw  a  slip  of 
paper  ;  the  two  who  draw  the  long  slips  will  go,  the 
others  will  remain.  Go  on  with  the  drawing  ! " 

The  long  slips  were  drawn  by  Corrigan  and  Carlin. 
With  smiles  of  triumph  these  two  shook  hands  with 
the  others,  who  were  weeping.  Said  Corrigan  : 

"  Whativer  may  happen,  do  not  grave,  boys.  I 
will  see  yez  again  before  night,  or — I  will  see  me 
mither." 

The  two  men  stepped  upon  the  cage.  In  his  old 
careless  way,  Carlin  said  :  "  Don't  worry  about  me, 
boys  !  I  will  come  back  by  and  by  and  bring  Brew- 
ster,  or  I  will  know  as  much  as  Wright  does  before 
night." 

With  these  words  tho  two  devoted  men  disap 
peared  with  the  cage  into  the  dreadful  depths. 

With  bitter  self-reproaches  the  two  remaining  men 
sat  down  and  waited.  A  half  hour  went  by,  when 
the  bell  struck  and  the  engine  began  to  hoist.  The 
cage  again  bore  only  a  slip  of  paper.  This  the  super 
intendent  read  as  follows  : 


276  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  We  have  had  another  cave  ;  another  man  is  hurt  ; 
all  the  miners  are  much  exhausted.  Send  a  couple 
more  men  if  possible." 

The  two  men  sprang  upon  the  cage.  The  superin 
tendent  joined  them,  and  they  were  rapidly  lowered 
into  the  depths.  Reaching  the  fatal  level,  they  learned 
thatCorrigan  and  Carlin,  on  going  down,  had  insisted 
on  taking  the  lead  ;  that  they  had  partly  uncovered 
Brewster  when  another  cave  had  come.  It  had  caught 
and  buried  Corrigan,  but  Carlin,  though  stunned  and 
bruised  somewhat,  had  escaped.  By  this  time  the 
smoke  had  partially  cleared,  but  the  drift  was 
intensely  hot. 

The  superintendent  again  took  charge.  Timbers 
and  heavy  plank  were  brought.  The  drift  was  rapidly 
shored  up,  and  within  an  hour  Harding  and  Ashley 
recovered  the  body  of  Corrigan. 

There  was  very  little  rock  over  him,  but  he  was 
quite  dead.  He  had  been  struck  and  crushed  by  a 
boulder  from  the  roof  of  the  drift.  He  was  bending 
down  at  the  time,  the  boulder  struck  him  fairly  in  the 
back  of  the  neck  and  he  must  have  died  instantly. 

Very  soon  Brewster's  body,  too,  was  uncovered. 
He  also  was  dead.  He  had  been  buried  by  decom 
posed  rock,  and  had  died  from  asphyxia. 

The  bodies  were  carried  to  the  shaft ;  each  was 
wrapped  in  a  blanket,  and  that  of  Corrigan  was 
placed  upon  the  cage.  The  superintendent,  with 
Carlin  and  two  other  miners,  stepped  on  the  cage 
and  it  was  hoisted  to  the  surface.  It  returned  in  a 
few  minutes,  and  this  time  Brewster's  body  was 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.         /  277 

placed  upon  it,  and  Harding  and  Ashley,  with  two 
other  miners,  accompanied  it  to  the  surface. 

In  the  daylight  the  faces  of  the  dead  were  both 
peaceful  as  though  in  sleep.  The  bodies  were  sent 
away  to  an  undertaker,  and  as  Brewster  had  been 
heard  to  say,  at  Wright's  funeral,  that  if  he  should 
die  in  the  West,  he  would  want  his  body  sent  East  to 
be  buried  beside  that  of  his  wife,  word  was  sent  to 
the  undertaker  to  try  and  get  the  coroner's  permis 
sion  and  then  to  embalm  the  body  of  Brewster. 

The  three  remaining  members  of  the  Club  were 
carried  to  their  dreary  home.  Besides  their  sorrow, 
they  were  terribly  exhausted.  Harding  had  fainted 
once  in  the  drift ;  Carlin  was,  besides  being  worn  out, 
badly  bruised,  and  Ashley  was  so  exhausted  that  upon 
reaching  the  surface  he  was  seized  with  chills  and 
vomiting.  The  Professor,  the  Colonel  and  Alex 
were  at  the  hoisting  works  when  they  were  hoisted 
to  the  surface.  They  accompanied  them  home,  and 
remained,  ministering  to  them  until  late  in  the  night, 
when  at  last  all  were  sleeping  peacefully. 

With  the  morning  the  desolateness  of  their  situ 
ation  seemed  more  oppressive  than  ever.  Yap  Sing 
had  prepared  a  dainty  breakfast,  but  when  they 
entered  the  dining  room  and  saw  only  three  plates 
where  a  few  days  before  there  had  been  seven,  it  was 
impossible  for  them  to  eat  a  mouthful.  Each  drank 
a  cup  of  black  coffee,  but  neither  tasted  food. 

Returned  to  the  sitting  room,  it  was  determined 
to  examine  the  effects  of  their  dead  friends.  There 
was  little  in  Corrigan's  bundles  except  clothing  and  a 
memorandum  book.  This  book  had  $150  in  green- 


278  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

backs,  and  a  great  many  memoranda  of  stocks  pur 
chased,  extending  over  a  period  of  three  years. 
These,  a  few  words  at  the  bottom  of  the  pages 
showed,  had  almost  all  been  sold  either  on  too  short 
margins  or  for  assessments.  Corrigan's  humor  ran 
all  through  the  book  in  penciled  remarks.  The  fol 
lowing  are  samples  : 

"  I  had  a  sure  thing ;  was  the  only  mon  in  the 
sacret.  I  was  but  one  and  I  caught  it." 

"I  bate  Mr.  Broker  mon.  He  bought  for  me  on 
a  fifty  per  cint.  margin,  and  it  broke  that  fast  he 
could  not  get  out  from  below  it." 

"  This  was  a  certain  sure  point.  Bedad,  I  found 
it  that  same." 

"  I  took  the  Scorpion  to  my  bosom,  and  the  black 
guard,  he  stung  me." 

"  I  stuck  to  Jacket  until  I  had  not  a  ghoust  of  a 
jacket  to  me  back." 

"  I  made  love  to  Julia.  She  was  more  ungrateful 
than  Maggie  Murphy." 

But  between  these  same  pages  was  found  the 
letter  Corrigan  had  received  announcing  his  mother's 
death,  and  this  was  almost  illegible  because  of  the 
tear-stains  upon  it. 

In  Brewster's  trunk  everything  was  found  in  the 
perfect  order  which  had  marked  all  his  ways. 

A  book  showed  every  dollar  that  he  had  received 
since  coming  to  the  Comstock  ;  his  monthly  expenses, 
the  sums  he  had  sent  his  sister  for  his  children,  and 
his  bank  book  showed  exactly  how  much  was  to 
his  credit. 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUl:.  2/Q 

Another  paper  was  found  giving  directions  that  if 
anything  fatal  should  happen  to  him,  his  body  should 
be  returned  to  Taunton,  Massachusetts,  and  if  any 
thing  should  be  left  above  the  necessary  expenses  of 
forwarding  his  body,  the  amount  should  be  sent  to 
his  sister,  Mrs.  Martha  Wolcott,  of  Taunton,  for  his 
children.  The  paper  also  contained  an  order  on  his 
banker  for  whatever  money  might  be  to  his  credit, 
and  a  statement  that  he  owed  no  debts.  There  were 
also  sealed  letters  directed  to  each  of  his  children. 
Another  large  package  was  tied  up  carefully  and 
endorsed,  "  My  children's  letters.  Please  return  them 
to  Taunton  without  breaking  the  package." 

The  bank  book  showed  that  there  was  eleven  hun 
dred  and  sixty-three  dollars  to  his  credit. 

Brewsterwas  a  man  that  even  death  could  not  sur 
prise.  He  was  always  ready. 

When  the  examination  was  completed,  Carlin 
suggested  to  Ashley  that  he  take  the  book,  call  at 
the  bank,  see  if  the  amount  was  correct  and  if  the 
bank  would  pay  it  on  the  order  found  in  the  book. 

Ashley  hesitated.  "  There  is  something  else,  Car 
lin,  that  should  be  done,  but  I  do  not  know  how  to  go 
about  it.  That  sister  should  be  advised  of  her 
brother's  death,  that  she  may  communicate  the  news 
to  Brewster's  children." 

"  I  have  been  thinking  of  that  ever  since  yester 
day,"  said  Carlin,  "but  I  can  not  do  it." 

"  I  have  been  thinking  of  it,  too,"  said  Harding, 
"  but  by  evening  we  can  determine  when  the  body 
will  be  sent  and  can  include  everything  in  one  dis 
patch." 


280  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB 

Ashley  went  away,  leaving  Carlin  and  Harding 
together. 

"  I  am  not  sure,"  said  Harding,  "  but  I  begin  to 
believe  that  the  man  who  invented  dealing  in  stocks 
was  an  enemy  to  his  race.  Look  at  the  result  of 
Corrigan's  life ;  think  what  poor  Wright  had  to  show 
for  all  his  years  of  toil.  They  could  not  have  fared 
much  worse  had  they  dealt  in  poker  or  faro 
straight." 

"  And  they  are  only  two,"  responded  Carlin. 
"  There  are  three  thousand  more  miners  like  them 
here  and  a  hundred  times  three  thousand  other 
people  scattered  up  and  down  this  coast,  trying  to 
get  rich  in  the  same  way,  while  here  and  in  San« 
Francisco  a  dozen  men  sit  behind  their  counters  and 
draw  in  the  earnings  of  the  coast.  It  is  worse  than 
folly,  Harding.  It  is  a  kind  of  lunacy,  a  sort  of  an 
every  day  financial  hari-kari." 

By  this  time  it  was  past  eleven  o'clock  in  the  fore 
noon.  Suddenly,  without  a  preliminary  knock,  the 
door  opened  and  Miller  stood  before  the  two  men. 
They  sprang  to  their  feet  and  welcomed  him,  the 
tears  starting  to  all  their  eyes  as  they  shook  hands. 
;  Oh,  Miller!"  said  Harding,  "why  did  you  go 
away  ?  We  have  had  only  trouble  and  sorrow 
since." 

"  It  was  not  fair  of  you,  Miller,"  said  Carlin,  "You 
held  our  friendship  at  a  miserably  low  price." 

"You  are  awfully  good,"  said  Miller;  "but  you 
are  looking  from  your  standpoint.  I  looked  from 
mine,  and  I  could  not  do  differently.  But  tell  me 
about  this  dreadful  business.  I  saw  about  Wright, 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  28 1 

and  read  the  account  of  this  fearful  accident  of  yes 
terday  as  I  was  coming  up  in  the  train,  but  still, 
there  must  have  been  some  blundering  somewhere." 

Every  thing  was  explained,  and  also  what  had  been 
discovered  of  the  effects  of  the  dead  miners. 

"  Poor  grand  souls,"  said  Miller.  "  It  was  a 
tough  ending.  Never  before  did  three  such  royal 
hearts  stop  beating  in  a  single  fortnight  on  the  Corn- 
stock." 

Ashley  returned,  and,  with  words  full  of  affection 
ate  reproach,  greeted  Miller. 

Ashley  had  found  everything  at  the  bank  as  the 
book  indicated,  and  the  undertaker  had  promised 
that  Brewster's  remains  should  be  ready  for  ship 
ment  on  the  evening  of  the  next  day. 

Then  the  question  of  the  despatch  to  the  family 
came  up  again. 

"  Before  deciding  upon  that,"  said  Miller,  "let  me 
tell  you  something : 

"  When  I  took  the  money  to  pay  the  bills,  I  had, 
with  a  little  of  my  own,  something  over  seven  hun 
dred  dollars.  I  bought  on  a  margin  of  only  twenty- 
five  per  cent. — rthe  broker  was  my  friend — all  the 
Silver  Hill  that  the  money  would  purchase.  I 
thought  I  had  a  sure  thing.  My  informant  was  a 
Silver  Hill  miner.  I  believed  I  could  multiply  the 
money  by  three  within  as  many  days.  In  five  days 
it  fell  thirty  per  cent.  What  could  I  do  ?  A  note 
from  the  broker  asking  me  to  call,  received  the  even 
ing  before  I  went  away,  decided  me.  1  went  away, 
but  when  I  saw  by  dispatches  that  Wright  had  been 


282  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

killed,  and  I  could  get  nothing  to  do,  I  determined  to 
come  back. 

"Well,  I  met  my  broker  this  morning.  He  asked 
me  to  call  at  his  place.  There  he  informed  me  that 
the  day  he  purchased  Silver  Hill  he  met  the  superin 
tendent  and  learned  from  him  that  there  was  not  yet 
a  development ;  that  the  stock  was  more  liable  to  fall 
than  to  rise  for  two  or  three  weeks  to  come,  the  rage 
being  just  then  for  north  end  stocks.  He  could  not 
find  me,  and  accordingly,  on  his  own  responsibility, 
he  sold  the  stock,  losing  nothing  but  commissions 
and  cost  of  dispatches. 

"  There  was  a  little  lull  in  Sierra  Nevada  that  day, 
and,  believing  it  was  good,  he  bought  with  my  money 
and  on  my  account.  As  it  shot  up  he  kept  buying. 
At  last,  a  week  ago,  he  had  two  thousand  shares  and 
sold  five  hundred,  and  by  the  sale  paid  himself  all  up 
except  $21,000. 

"  Hearing  day  before  yesterday  that  1  had  left  the 
city,  he  sold  the  other  fifteen  hundred  shares  at  $15  7. 
This  morning  he  handed  me  a  certificate  of  deposit 
in  my  favor  for  $213,000,  and  here  it  is." 

Most  heartily  did  the  others  congratulate  Miller 
on  his  good  fortune. 

But  Miller  said:  "Congratulate  yourselves!  I 
used  the  money  of  the  Club.  The  profit  I  always 
intended  should  be  the  Club's.  Wright  and  Corri- 
gan  and  Brewster  are  gone,  but  you  are  left  and 
Brewster's  children  are  left.  If  I  am  correct,  $2 13,000 
divided  by  five,  makes  exactly  $42,600.  That  is,  you 
each  have  $42,600  on  deposit  in  the  bank,  and  a  like 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  283 

sum  is  there  for  two  fatherless  and  motherless  chil 
dren  in  Massachusetts." 

It  was  useless  to  try  to  reason  the  matter  with 
Miller.  He  merely  said:  "  It  shall  be  my  way.  It 
was  a  square  deal.  1  meant  it  so  frojn  the  first ; 
only,"  he  added,  sadly,  "  I  wish  Wright  and  Corrigan 
and  Brewster  could  have  lived  to  know  it."  Then 
turning  quickly  to  Harding,  he  said  :  "  Harding, 
how  much  is  that  indebtedness  which  has  worried 
you  so  long  ?  " 

Harding  replied  that  the  mortgage  was  $8,000, 
while  the  personal  debts  amounted  to  $3,000  more. 

"Then,"  said  Miller,  "you  can  pay  the  debts  and 
have  nearly  $30,000  more  with  which  to  build  your 
house  and  barns,  to  stock  and  fix  your  place  for  a 
home." 

The  tears  came  to  Harding's  eyes,  but  he  could 
not  answer. 

"Never  mind,  old  boy,"  said  Miller;  "did  I  not 
tell  you  I  would  make  things  all  right  for  you  ?" 

Then  Carlin  got  up,  went  into  the  adjoining  room, 
brought  out  the  watch  which  had  been  Wright's  and 
told  Miller  how  Wright,  under  the  shadow  of  death, 
had  bequeathed  the  watch  to  him. 

For  the  first  time  Miller  broke  down  and  burst  into 
tears. 

When  he  recovered  somewhat  the  command  of 
himself,  he  said  : 

"  Now,  I  have  a  proposition  to  make.  Let  us  all 
give  up  this  mining.  It  is  a  hard  life,  and  generally 
ends  either  in  poverty  or  in  a  fatal  accident.  1  am 
going  to  San  Francisco.  The  place  to  make  money 


284  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

is  where  there  is  money,  and  I  am  going  to  try  my 
skill  at  the  other  end  of  the  line." 

"  You  are  right,"  said  Carlin.  "  I  am  never  going 
down  into  the  Comstock  again.  I  made  up  my  mind 
to  that  yesterday.  I  am  going  back  to  Illinois." 

"  And  I  am  going  to  Pennsylvania,"  said  Ashley. 

"  I  gave  up  mining  yesterday,  also,"  said  Harding  ; 
"at least  on  the  Comstock.  I  do  not  mind  the  labor 
or  the  danger,  but  it  is  not  a  life  that  fits  a  man  for  a 
contented  old  age. 

Suddenly  Miller  said  :  "  Harding,  were  you  ever 
in  the  Eastern  States  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Harding;  "the  present  boundary  of 
my  life  is  limited  to  California  and  Nevada." 

"Well,"  said  Miller,  "if  we  all  give  ourselves 
credit  for  all  the  good  we  ever  dreamed  of  doing, 
still  neither  of  us,  indeed,  all  of  us  together,  are  not 
worthy  to  be  named  on  the  same  day  with  James 
Brewster.  His  body  must  go  East,  and  on  its  arrival 
there  only  an  aged  woman  and  two  little  orphan 
children  await  to  receive  it.  I  think  it  would  be 
shabby  to  send  the  dust  of  the  great-hearted  and 
great-souled  man  there  unattended.  What  say  you, 
Ashley  and  Harding,  will  you  not  escort  the  body  to 
its  old  home  ?  " 

Both  at  once  assented.  A  dispatch  was  prepared 
announcing  Brewster's  death,  and  adding  that  his 
body  would  be  shipped  the  next  evening,  escorted  by 
two  brother  miners,  Herbert  Ashley  and  Samuel 
Harding.  This  was  signed  by  the  superintendent 
of  the  Bullion  Company. 


THE    COM  STOCK    CLUB.  285 

The  superintendent  also  made  a  written  statement 
that  he  had  examined  the  effects  of  Brewster  and 
found  that,  less  the  expenses  of  embalming,  trans 
portation,  etc.,  together  with  $80  due  Brewster  from 
the  Bullion  Company,  there  was  left  the  sum  of 
$840.25.  With  this  statement  a  bill  of  exchange  on 
Boston  for  the  $840.25  was  enclosed,  and  Ashley  took 
charge  of  it. 

The  bills  were  all  paid.  The  money  due  Brewster's 
orphans,  according  to  Miller's  calculation,  was  also 
converted  into  a  bill  of  exchange  payable  to  Mabel 
and  Mildred  Brewster.  Ashley  and  Harding  took 
charge  of  the  first  and  left  the  second  bill  of  exchange 
to  be  forwarded  by  Colonel  Savage,  and  before  night 
all  preparations  for  leaving  the  next  day  were  made. 

The  next  morning  Corrigan's  funeral  took  place 
with  all  the  ostentatious  parade  which  Virginia  City 
was  famous  for  in  the  flush  times  when  some  one 
who  had  been  a  favorite  had  passed  away.  At  the  hall 
of  the  Miners'  Union  Colonel  Savage  delivered  a 
eulogy  which  was  infinitely  more  beautiful  than  some 
of  the  orations  which  have  been  treasured  among 
the  gems  of  the  century. 

He  was  followed  by  Strong  in  an  eulogy  that 
touched  every  heart.  Here  is  a  sample  : 

"  Gentle  and  unpretentious  was  Barney  Corrigan. 
There  was  no  disguise  in  his  nature.  Could  his  heart 
have  been  worn  outside  his  breast,  and  could  it, 
every  moment,  have  thrown  off  pictures  of  the 
emotions  that  warmed  it,  to  those  who  knew  him 
well,  those  pictures  would  have  thrown  no  new  light 
on  his  nature. 


286  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"  Generous  and  true  was  he  ;  true  as  a  man,  a 
friend,  a  citizen.  His  walk  through  life  was  an  hum 
ble  one,  but  it  was,  nevertheless,  grand.  So  brave 
was  he  that  he  performed  heroic  acts  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  all  unconscious  that  he  was  a  hero. 

"  So  he  toiled  on,  his  path  lighted  by  his  own 
genial  eyes,  and  strewn  behind  him  with  generous 
deeds. 

'  When  death  came  to  him  the  blessed  anaesthetic 
which  made  him  indifferent  to  his  sufferings  was  the 
thought  that  in  a  little  while  he  would  rescue  a  friend 
in  peril,  or  feel  the  grasp  of  the  spirit  hand  of  his 
mother. 

"  Noble  was  his  life  ;  consecrated  will  be  the 
ground  that  receives  his  mortal  part.  The  world 
was  better  that  he  lived  ;  it  is  sadder  that  he  died. 

"  With  tears  we  part  with  him  ;  our  souls  send 
tender  '  all  hails  and  farewells'  out  to  his  soul  that 
has  fled,  and  we  pray  that  his  sleep  may  be  sweet." 

The  Colonel,  Professor  and  Alex,  with  Miller, 
Carlin,  Ashley  and  Harding  rode  in  the  mourning 
carriages.  .These  were  followed  by  a  long  line  of 
carriages  and  quite  one  thousand  miners  on  foot. 
At  the  grave  the  services  were  simply  a  prayer  and  a 
hymn  sung  by  the  Cornish  quartette.  They  made 
his  grave  close  beside  that  of  Wright's;  they  ordered 
a  duplicate  stone  to  be  placed  above  it,  and  left  him 
to  his  long  sleep. 

Yap  Sing  was  paid  off  and  a  handsome  present 
made  him,  the  furniture  and  food  in  the  Club  house 
was  distributed  among  poor  families  in  the  neighbor 
hood,  and  on  the  evening  train  the  four  living  men, 


THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB.  287 

with  the  body  of  their  dead  friend,  moved  out  of  Vir 
ginia  City. 

A  great  crowd  was  at  the  depot  to  see  them  off, 
and  the  last  hands  wrung  were  those  of  the  Professor, 
the  Colonel  and  Alex. 

On  the  way  to  Reno,  Carlin  said  to  Miller  :  "  One 
thing  I  cannot  understand,  Miller ;  whatever  pos 
sessed  that  broker  to  turn  over  that  money  to  you 
when  he  was  not  compelled  to  ? " 

"  I  hrae  no  idea  in  the  world,"  said  Miller,  "  except 
that  we  c  re  old  friends." 

"  But  did  you  never  do  him  any  great  favor, 
Miller — any  particular  great  favor?"  asked  Carlin. 

"  No,"  said  Miller,  "  I  cannot  think  of  any."  But 
after  a  moment's  silence  he  added :  "  By  the  way, 
come  to  think  of  it,  I  did  do  him  a  little  favor  once. 
I  saved  his  life." 

"  How  was  it  ?"  asked  Carlin. 

"  Why,"  answered  Miller,  "  he  and  myself  had  a 
running  fight  with  a  band  of  renegade  Indians. 
There  were  seven  or  eight  of  them  at  first,  and  we 
got  them  reduced  to  four,  when  one  of  them  killed 
the  broker's  horse.  It  was  a  very  close  game  then. 
It  required  the  promptest  kind  of  work.  When  the 
horse  fell  the  broker  was  thrown  violently  on  his 
shoulder  and  the  side  of  his  head  and  was  too 
stunned  to  gather  his  wits  together  for  a  few  minutes. 
I  had  a  gentle  horse,  so  sprang  down  from  him  and 
let  him  go.  I  got  behind  a  low  rock  and  succeeded 
in  stopping  two  of  the  Indians,  when  the  others  con 
cluded  it  was  no  even  thing  and  took  the  back  track. 
But  the  broker  was  '  powerful '  nervous  when  I  got 


288  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUll. 

up  to  him.  The  worst  of  it  all  was,  I  had  to  ride 
and  tie  with  him  for  seventeen  miles,  and  he  was  so 
badly  demoralized  that  I  had  to  do  all  the  walking." 
At  Reno  Miller  bade  the  others  good-bye  and  took 
the  west-bound  train.  Carlin  sent  a  dispatch  to  an 
Illinois  town.  Late  in  the  night  the  east-bound 
Overland  express  came  in  ;  the  body  of  Brewster  was 
put  on  board,  the  tnree  friends  entered  a  sleeper  and 
the  long  ride  began. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Following  a  long  established  habit  our  three  trav 
elers  were  up  next  morning  shortly  after  dawn. 

The  train  was  then  thundering  over  the  desert 
northeast  of  Wadsworth.  Carlin  noticed  the  country 
and  said : 

"  This  must  be  almost  on  the  spot  where  poor 
Wright  saw  his  wonderful  mirage." 

"  As  he  spoke  the  bending  rays  of  the  rising  sun 
swept  along  the  sterile  earth,  and  a  shimmer  in  the 
air  close  to  the  ground  revealed  how  swiftly  the  heat 
waves  were  advancing. 

"  It  is  as  Wright  said ;  the  desert  grows  warm  at 
once,  so  soon  as  the  morning  sun  strikes  it,"  said 
Harding.  "  Heavens,  how  awful  a  desolation.  It  is 
as  though  the  face-cloth  had  been  lifted  from  a  dead 
world." 

"  Do  you  remember  what  Wright  told  us,  about 
the  appalling  stillness  of  this  region  ?"  asked  Ashley. 
"  One  can  realize  a  little  of  it  by  looking  out.  Were 
the  train  not  here  what  would  there  be  for  sound  to 
act  upon  ?" 

"  Is  it  not  pitiful,"  said  Harding,  "  to  think  of  a 
grand  life  like  Wright's  being  worn  out  as  his  was  ? 
He  met  the  terrors  here  when  but  a  boy.  From  that 
time  on  there  was  but  blow  after  blow  of  this  merci 
less  world's  bufferings  until  the  struggle  closed  in  a 
violent  and  untimely  death." 


2QO  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

"You  forget,"  said  Ashley,  "that  a  self-contained 
soul  and  royal  heart  like  his  are  their  own  comforters. 
He  had  joys  that  the  selfish  men  of  this  world  never 
know/'' 

All  that  day  the  conversation  was  only  awakened 
at  intervals  and  then  was  not  long  continued.  Not 
only  the  sorrow  in  .their  hearts  was  claiming  their 
thoughts  and  imposing  the  silence  which  real  sorrow 
covets  ;  but  the  swift  changes  wrought  in  the  week 
just  passed  had  really  resulted  in  an  entire  revolu 
tion  in  all  their  thoughts  and  plans. 

It  was  to  them  an  epoch.  The  breakfast  station 
came,  later  the  dinner,  later  the  supper  station.  All 
the  day  the  train  swept  on  up  the  Humboldt  valley. 
Along  the  river  bottom  were  meadows,  but  about 
the  only  change  in  the  monotonous  scenery  was 
from  desert  plains  to  desert  mountains  and  back 
again  to  the  plains. 

Night  came  down  in  eastern  Nevada.  When 
they  awoke  next  morning  the  train  was  skirting  the 
northwest  shore  of  Great  Salt  Lake  and  the  rising 
sun  was  painting  the  splendors  that,  with  lavish 
extravagance,  the  dawn  always  pictures  there  on 
clear  days,  and  no  spot  has  more  clear  days  during 
the  year. 

Ogden  was  reached  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing  ;  the  transfer  to  the  Union  Pacific  train  was 
made,  breakfast  eaten,  and  toward  noon  the  beauties 
of  Echo  Cannon  began  to  unfold.  Green  River  was 
crossed  in  the  gloaming;  in  the  morning  Laramie 
was  passed,  at  noon  Cheyenne,  and  the  train  was 
now  on  a  down  grade  toward  the  East.  With  the 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  29 1 

next  morning  men  were  seen  gathering  their  crops ; 
the  desert  had  been  left  behind  and  the  travelers 
were  now  entering  the  granary  of  the  Republic. 

Late  that  night  the  train  entered  Omaha.  The 
usual  delay  was  made,  the  transfers  affected,  and 
early  next  morning  the  journey  across  Iowa,  so  won 
derful  to  one  who  has  been  long  in  the  desert,  began. 
Ashley  darted  from  side  to  side  of  the  coach  that  he 
might  not  lose  one  bit  of  the  view  ;  but  Harding-  sat 

<j  O 

still  by  the  window,  hardly  moving,  but  straining  his 
eyes  over  the  low  waves  of  green,  which,  in  the  still 
ness  of  the  summer  day,  seemed  like  a  sea  transfixed. 

Carlin  was  strangely  restless.  He  did  not  seem  to 
heed  the  scenery  around  him.  He  studied  his  guide 
book  and  every  quarter  of  an  hour  looked  at  his 
watch.  When  spoken  to,  he  answered  in  an  absent- 
minded  way ;  it  was  plain  that  he  was  absorbed  by 
some  overmastering  thought. 

Noon  came  at  length,  then  one  o'clock,  then  two; 
the  train  gave  a  long  whistle,  slackened  speed,  and 
in  a  moment  was  brought  to  a  standstill  in  front  of  a 
station. 

With  the  first  signal  Carlin  had  sprung  from  his 
seat  and  walked  rapidly  toward  the  end  of  the  car. 

"  What  can  the  matter  be  with  Carlin?"  asked 
Harding.  "He  has  been  half  wild  all  day  and  alto 
gether  different  from  his  usual  self." 

"  He  will  be  home  some  time  to-night,"  replied 
Ashley.  "  He  has  been  absent  a  long  time,  and  I  do 
not  wonder  at  his  unrest.  I  expect  to  have  my 
attack  next  week  when  the  southern  hills  of  Pennsyl- 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

vania  lift  up  their  crests,  and  the  old  familiar  haunts 
begin  to  take  form." 

"  Look  !  Look  !  "  said  Harding.  "  Carlin's  unrest 
is  taking  a  delicious  form,  truly." 

Two  ladies  were  standing  on  the  platform.  Carlin 
had  leaped  from  the  train  while  yet  it  was  moving 
quite  rapidly.  He  bent  and  kissed  the  first  lady,  but 
the  second  one  he  caught  in  his  arms,  held  her  in  a 
long  embrace  and  kissed  her  over  and  over  again. 

"  He  has  struck  a  bonanza,"  said  Ashley. 

"  And  the  formation  is  kindly,"  said  Harding. 

"The  indications  are  splendid,"  said  Ashley. 
"  Mark  the  trend  of  the  vein  ;  it  is  exquisite." 

"  It  does  not  seem  to  be  rebellious  or  obstinate 
ore  to  manipulate  either.  Carlin's  process  seems  to 
work  like  a  fire  assay,"  said  Harding. 

"  Just  by  the  surface  showing  the  claim  is  worth  a 
thousand  dollars  a  share,"  said  Ashley.  "  I  wonder 
if  Carlin  has  secured  a  patent  yet  ?  " 

"And  I  wonder,"  said  Harding,  "  if  we  are  not  a 
pair  of  blackguards  to  be  talking  this  way?  Let  us 
go  and  meet  them." 

The  friends  arose  and  started  for  the  platform,  but 
were  met  half  way  by  Carlin  and  the  ladies.  There 
were  formal  introductions  to  Mrs.  and  Miss  Richards. 
Under  the  blushes  of  the  young  lady  could  be  traced 
the  lineaments  of  the  "  Susie  Dick  "  that  Carlin  had 
shown  to  the  Club  in  the  photograph. 

Crimson,  but  still  smiling,  the  young  lady  said  : 
"Gentlemen,  did  you  see  Mr.  Carlin  at  the  station, 
before  a  whole  depot  of  giggling  ninnies,  too  ?  Was 
ever  anything  half  so  ridiculous  ?"  Then  glancing 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  293 

up  at  Carlin  with  a  forgiving  look,  but  still  in  a  delic 
ious  scolding  tone,  she  added  :  "  I  really  had  hoped 
that  the  West  had  partly  civilized  him." 

Harding  and  Ashley  glanced  at  each  other  with  a 
look  which  said  plainly  enough,  "  Carlin  has  proved 
up  without  any  contest  ;  even  if  the  patent  is  not 
already  issued,  his  title  is  secure." 

The  friends  had  the  drawing  room  and  a  section 
outside.  With  a  quick  instinct  Ashley  seated  the 
elder  lady  in  the  section,  bade  Harding  entertain 
her,  then  swinging  back  the  drawing  room  door, 
said  :  "  Miss  Richards,  I  know  that  you  want  to  scold 
Carlin  for  the  next  hour,  and  he  deserves  it.  Right  in 
here  is  the  best  place  on  the  car  for  the  purpose. 
Please  walk  in."  Saying  which  he  stepped  back  and 
seated  himself  beside  Harding. 

The  elder  lady  was  a  charming  traveling  compan 
ion.  She  wanted  to  know  all  about  the  West.  She 
knew  all  about  the  region  they  were  passing  through, 
and  the  whole  afternoon  ride  was  a  delight. 

During  the  journey  Harding  and  Ashley  had  been 
begging  Carlin  to  accompany  them  to  Massachusetts, 
and  he  had  finally  promised  to  give  them  a  positive 
answer  that  day.  After  a  while  he  emerged  from 
the  drawing  room  and  said :  "  I  am  sorry  but  I  can 
not  go  East  with  you.  These  ladies  have  been  good 
enough  to  come  out  and  meet  me.  We  will  all  go 
on  as  far  as  Chicago  and  see  you  off,  but  we  cannot 
very  well  extend  the  journey  further.  Indeed,  Miss 
Susie  intimates  that  I  am  too  awkward  a  man  to  be 
safe  east  of  Chicago." 

O 


294  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

The  others  saw  how  it  was  and  did  not  further 
importune  him.  Next  day  they  separated,  Carlin's 
last  words  being,  "  If  you  ever  come  within  five  hun 
dred  miles  of  Peoria  stop  and  stay  a  month." 

The  grand  city  was  passed.  The  train  swung 
around  the  end  of  Lake  Michigan,  leaving  the 
magical  city  in  its  wake.  Through  the  beautiful 
region  of  southern  Michigan  it  hurried  on.  Detroit 
was  reached  and  passed  ;  the  arm  of  the  Dominion 
was  crossed,  and  finally,  when  in  the  early  morning 
the  train  stopped,  the  boom  of  Niagara  filled  the  air, 
and  the  enchantment  of  the  picture  which  the  river 
and  the  sunlight  suspend  there  before  mortals,  was  in 
full  view.  Next  the  valley  of  the  Genesee  was 
unfolded,  and  with  each  increasing  mile  more  and 
more  distinct  grew  the  clamors  of  toiling  millions, 
jubilant  with  life  and  measureless  in  energy.  Swifter 
and  more  frequent  was  the  rush  of  the  chariots  on 
which  modern  commerce  is  borne,  and  all  the  time 
to  the  eyes  of  the  men  of  the  desert  the  lovely  homes 
which  fill  that  region  flitted  by  like  the  castles  of 
dreamland. 

Later  in  the  day  the  panorama  of  the  Mohawk 
Valley  began  to  unroll  and  was  drawn  out  in  picture 
after  picture  of  rare  loveliness. 

Ashley  and  Harding  were  enchanted.  It  was  as 
though  they  had  emerged  into  a  new  world. 

'Think  of  it,  Ashley,"  said  Harding.  "It  is  but 
eight  days — at  this  very  hour — since  we  were  having 
that  wrestle  with  death  in  the  depths  of  the  Bullion 
mine.  Think  of  that  and  then  look  around  upon 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  295 

these  serene  homes  and   the   lavish  loveliness  of  this 
scenery." 

"  I  know  now  how  Moses  felt,  when  from  the  crest 
of  Pis^ah  he  looked  down  to  where  the  Promised 
Land  was  outstretched  before  him,"  was  the  reply. 
"  I  feel  as  I  fancy  a  soul  must  feel,  when  at  last  it 
realizes  there  is  a  second  birth." 

Said  Harding  :  "  I  dread  more  and  more  to  meet 
these  people  where  we  are  going.  How  uncouth 
we  will  seem  to  them  and  to  ourselves." 

"  Our  errand  will  plead  our  excuses,"  said  Ashley  ; 
"  besides,  they  will  be  too  much  absorbed  with  some 
thing  else  to  pay  much  attention  to  us.  Moreover, 
they  will  know  that  our  lives  of  late  have  been  passed 
mostly  underground,  and  they  will  not  expect  us  to 
reflect  much  light." 

"What  are  your  plans,  Ashley,  for  the  near  future, 
after  this  business  which  we  have  in  hand  shall  be 
over?"  asked  Harding. 

"  A  home  in  old  Pennsylvania  is  to  be  purchased," 
said  Ashley,  "and  then  a  trial  with  my  fellow  men 
for  a  fortune  and  for  such  honors  as  may  be  fairly 
won.  And  you,  Harding,  what  have  you  marked 
out?" 

Said  Harding :  "  My  father's  estate  is  to  be 
redeemed  ;  after  that,  whatever  a  strong  right  arm 
backing  an  honest  purpose  can  win.  But  one  thing 
we  must  not  forget.  We  must  be  the  semi-guardians 
of  those  children  of  Brewster,  until  they  shall  pass 
beyond  our  care." 

"  You  are  very  right,  my  boy,"  said  Ashley.  "  Brew- 


296  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

ster  was  altogether  grand  and  his  children  must  ever 
be  our  concernment." 

In  the  early  night  the  Hudson  was  crossed  and 
the  train  plunged  on  through  the  hills  beyond.  At 
Walpole  early  next  morning  the  train  was  boarded 
by  three  gentlemen  who  searched  out  Harding  and 
Ashley  and  introduced  themselves  as  old  friends  of 
Brewster  and  his  family.  They  had  come  out  to  escort 
the  body  of  Brewster  to  Taunton,  now  only  a  few 
miles  off.  The  names  of  these  men  were  respectively 
Hartwell,  Hill  and  Burroughs. 

Hartwell  explained  that  the  remains  would  be 
taken  to  an  undertaker,  and  examined  to  see  if  it 
would  be  possible  for  the  children  and  Mrs.  Wolcott, 
the  sister  of  Brewster,  to  look  upon  their  father's 
and  brother's  face.  He  also  said  the  funeral  would 
be  on  the  succeeding  day.  Then  the  particulars  of 
the  accident  were  asked. 

A  full  and  graphic  account  of  the  whole  affair  had 
been  published  in  the  Virginia  City  papers. 

Copies  of  these  were  produced  and  handed  over  as 
giving  a  full  idea  of  the  calamity. 

The  statement  made  by  the  superintendent  of  the 
Bullion,  including  the  smaller  certificate  of  deposit, 
also  the  other  effects  of  Brewster,  all  but  the  money 
obtained  from  Miller,  were  transferred  to  Mr.  Hart- 
well. 

On  reaching  Taunton  a  great  number  of  sympa 
thizing  friends  were  in  waiting,  for  Brewster  had 
lived  there  all  his  life  until  he  went  West  three  years 
before,  and  he  was  much  esteemed.  The  manner  of 
his  death  added  to  the  general  sympathy. 


THE   COMSTOCK   CLUB,  297 

A  hearse  in  waiting  at  once  took  the  body  away. 
The  young  men  were  taken  to  his  home  by  Mr. 
Hartwell.  They  begged  to  be  permitted  to  go  to  a 
hotel,  but  the  request  would  not  be  listened  to. 

On  examination  it  was  found  that  the  work  of  the 
embalmer  had  been  most  thorough.  The  face  of 

o 

Brewster  was  quite  natural  and  placid,  as  though  in 
sleep. 

Breakfast  was  in  waiting  for  the  young  men,  and 
when  it  was  disposed  of  they  were  shown  again  to  the 
parlors  and  introduced  to  a  score  of  people  who  had 
gathered  in  to  hear  the  story  of  Brewster's  death 
from  the  lips  of  the  men  who  had  taken  his  body 
from  the  deep  pit  and  brought  it  home  for  burial. 

In  the  conversation  which  followed  two  or  three 
hours  were  consumed. 

When  the  callers  had  gone,  Hartwell  said  : 

"  Gentlemen,  I  advise  you  to  go  to  your  rooms 
and  try  and  get  some  rest.  In  two  or  three  hours  I 
shall  want  you  to  go  and  make  a  call  with  me,  if  the 
poor  family  and  my  friend  can  bear  it." 

Late  that  afternoon  Hartwell  knocked  on  the  door 
of  the  sitting  room,  which,  with  sleeping  apartments 
on  either  side,  had  been  given  Harding  and  Ashley, 
and  when  the  door  was  opened,  he  said  : 

"  Gentlemen,  please  come  with  me,  the  children  of 
James  Brewster  desire  to  see  you  !" 

The  young  men  arose  and  followed  their  host. 
Brewster  had  always  referred  to  his  daughters  as  his 
"  little  girls  ;  "  the  man  who  had  the  young  men  to  go 
and  meet  them,  spoke  of  them  as  "  the  children  of 
James  Brewster."  Both  Harding  and  Ashley,  as  they 


298  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

followed  Hart  well,  were  mentally  framing  words  of 
comfort  to  speak  to  school  misses  just  entering  their 
teens,  who  were  in  sorrow. 

When,  then,  they  were  ushered  into  the  presence 
of  two  thoroughly  accomplished  young  women,  and 
when  these  ladies,  with  tears  streaming  down  their 
faces,  came  forward,  shook  their  hands,  and  in  broken 
words  of  warmest  gratitude  thanked  them  for  all 
they  had  done  and  were  doing,  and  for  all  they  had 
been  to  their  father  in  life  and  in  death,  the  men 
from  the  desert  were  lost  in  surprise  and  astonish 
ment. 

As  Harding  said  later  :  "  I  felt  as  though  I  was  in 
a  drift  on  the  two-thousand-eight-hundred-foot  level, 
into  which  no  air  pipe  had  been  carried." 

This  apparition  was  all  the  more  startling  to  them, 
because  during  the  two  or  three  years  that  they  had 
been  at  work  on  the  Comstock,  the  very  nature  of 
their  occupation  forbade  their  mingling  in  the  society 
of  refined  women  to  any  but  a  most  limited  extent. 

From  the  papers  given  the  family  by  Hartwell  that 
day,  matters  were  fully  understood  by  the  sister  of 
Brewster  and  the  young  ladies,  so  no  explanations 
were  asked.  At  first  the  conversation  was  little  more 
than  warm  thanks  on  the  part  of  the  young  ladies, 
and  modest  and  half  incoherent  replies. 

The  ladies  were  in  the  humble  home  of  their 
father's  widowed  sister,  Mrs.  Wolcott.  That  they 
were  all  poor  was  apparent  from  the  surroundings. 
This  fact  at  length  forced  its  way  through  the  bewil 
dered  brain  of  Harding  and  furnished  him  a  happy 
expedient  to  say  something  without  advertising  him- 


THE   COMSTOCK    CLUB.  299 

self  the  idiot  that  he,  in  that  hour,  would  have  been 
willing  to  make  an  affidavit  that  he  was.  Said  he  : 

"  Ladies,  amid  all  the  sorrows  that  we  bring  to 
you,  we  have  what  but  for  your  grief  would  be  good 
news.  Tell  them,  Ashley  !  " 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  Ashley,  "we  have  something  which 
is  yours,  and  which,  while  no  balm  for  sorrow  like 
yours,  will,  we  sincerely  hope,  be  the  means  of  driv 
ing  some  cares  from  your  lives." 

Taking  a  memorandum  from  his  pocket,  he  con 
tinued: 

"Your  father  left  more  property  than  he  himself 
knew  of.  How  it  was  Harding  and  myself  will 
explain  at  some  other  time,  if  you  desire.  At  pres 
ent  it  is  only  necessary  to  say  that  the  amount  is 
forty-two  thousand  and  six  hundred  dollars,  for  which 
we  have  brought  you  a  bill  of  exchange."  With  that 
he  extended  the  paper  to  Miss  Brewster.  Then 
these  brave  girls  began  to  tremble  and  quake  indeed. 
"It  cannot  be,"  said  Mabel.  "There  must  be  some 
mistake,"  said  Mildred. 

"Indeed  there  is  no  mistake,"  said  Harding.  "See, 
it  is  a  banker's  order  on  a  Boston  bank,  and  is  paya 
ble  to  your  joint  order.  No  one  can  draw  it  until 
you  have  both  endorsed  it,  for  it  is  yours." 

Then  these  girls  fell  into  each  other's  arms  and 
sobbed  afresh. 

As  soon  as  they  could  the  miners  retired. 

Mabel  Brewster  was  tall,  of  slender  form  and 
severely  classic  face.  She  had  blue  eyes,  inherited 
from  her  mother,  and  that  shade  of  hair  which  is 
dusky  in  a  faint  light,  but  which  turns  to  gold  in  sun- 


3OO  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

light.  Her  complexion  was  very  fair,  her  hands 
and  arms  were  exquisite  and  her  manners  most  win 
some. 

Mildred,  her  sister,  was  of  quite  another  type.  A 
year  and  a  half  younger  than  Mabel,  she  looked 
older  than  her  sister.  She  had  her  father's  black 
eyes,  and  like  him,  a  prominent  nose  and  resolute 
mouth.  She  was  lower  of  stature  and  fuller  of  form 
than  her  sister.  bhe  had  also  a  larger  hand  and 

o 

stronger  arm.  Over  all  was  poised  a  superb  head, 
crowned  with  masses  of  tawny  hair. 

Standing  in  their  simple  mourning  robes,  with  the 
afternoon  sun  shining  around  them,  they  looked  as 
Helen  and  Cassandra  might  have  looked,  while  yet 
the  innocence  and  splendor  of  early  womanhood  were 
upon  them. 

Mabel  was  such  a  woman  as  men  dream  of  and 
struggle  to  possess  ;  Mildred  was  such  a  one  as  men 
die  for  when  necessary,  and  do  not  count  it  a  sacri 
fice. 

From  the  house  the  young  men  walked  rapidly 
away,  and  so  busy  were  they  with  their  own  thoughts 
that  neither  spoke  until  they  entered  a  wooded  park 
or  common,  and  finding  a  rustic  bench,  sat  down. 

Harding  was  the  first  to  speak.  "After  all  his 
mighty  toil ;  after  his  self-sacrificing  life  ;  after  all 
his  struggles,  Brewster  died  and  was  not  permitted 
to  see  his  children.  It  is  most  pitiable." 

"  Maybe  he  sees  them  now,"  said  Ashley,  softly. 
"  It  cannot  be  far  from  here  to  heaven." 

"  I  wish    I    had    never   seen    her,"  said    Harding, 


THE     COMSTOCK     CLUB.  301 

impetuously.  And  then  all  his  reserve  breaking 
down  he  arose,  stretched  out  his  arms  and  cried  : 

"  I  wish  I  had  died  in  Brewster's  stead." 

"  Is  she  not  divine?"  said  Ashley.  "A  very  Iris, 
goddess  of  the  rainbow,  bringing  divine  commands  to 
man,  his  guide  and  his  adviser." 

"  Say  not  so,"  said  Harding,  "  Rather  she  is 
Ceres,  in  her  original  purity  returned  to  earth  ;  flow 
ers  bloom  under  the  soft  light  of  her  divine  eyes,  and 
all  bountifulness  rests  in  the  heaven  of  her  white 
arms.  I  tell  you,  Ashley,  the  man  who  could  have 
that  woman's  eyes  to  smile  up  approvingly  upon  him 
would  have  to  move  on  from  conquest  to  conquest  so 
long  as  life  lasted." 

An  anxious  look  came  over  the  face  of  Ashley. 
"  Which  lady  do  you  mean  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Mean!"  echoed  Harding.  "  I  mean  she  of  the 
royal  brow  and  starry  eyes,  Mildred  Brewster." 

"  Thank  God,"  said  Ashley,  with  a  great  sigh  of 
relief. 

"  And  why  do  you  thank  God?"   asked    Harding. 

"Because,"  said  Ashley,  "to  me  Mableis  the  dainty, 
the  divine  one.  She  comes  upon  the  eye  as  a  per 
fect  soprano  voice  smites  on  a  musical  ear." 

"You  are  growing  musical,  are  you  ?  "  said  Hard 
ing.  "  Well,  then,  the  other  is  a  celestial  contralto, 
deep-toned  and  full  and  sweet,  materialized." 

After  this  both  were  silent  for  a  moment  and  then 
Ashley  began  to  low  laugh  to  himself. 

"What  is  your  hilarity  occasioned  by?"  asked 
Harding. 


3O2  THE    COM  STOCK    CLUB. 

"  I  was  thinking  what  fools  we  have  been  making 
of  ourselves,"  said  Ashley. 

"And  how  did  you  reach  that  estimate,  pray?" 
asked  Harding. 

"Why,  Harding,"  was  the  answer,  "an  hour  ago 
we  met  two  ladies.  They  were  not  what  we  expected 
to  find,  and  they  brought  a  sort  of  enchantment  to 
us.  We  saw  them  first  an  hour  ago  ;  we  will  to-mor 
row  see  them  once  more,  and  that  will  be  all  ;  and 
still  we  have  been  raving  like  two  lunatics  for  the 
past  half  hour  about  them." 

"  You  are  right,"  was  the  sad  reply.  "  See  yonder 
on  the  street  corner." 

Just  then  a  dainty  carriage  and  a  set  of  heavy 
trucks  met  on  the  corner  and  passed  each  other,  the 
carriage  turning  to  the  east,  the  trucks  to  the  west. 

"  Typical,  is  it  not  ?"  said  Ashley.  "The  trucks 
go  west — at  least  they  will  to-morrow  night." 

"  Most  true,"  said  Harding,  "  and  still  I  think  I 
would  like  to  kiss  the  carpet  that  has  been  sanctified 
by  the  footfalls  of  Mildred  Brewster." 

Ashley  reached  out,  seized  Harding's  wrist  and 
felt  his  pulse. 

"You  have  got  it  bad,  Harding,"  said  he,  "  and  I 
don't  feel  very  well  myself.  If  poor  Corrigan  were 
alive  again  and  here  we  would  get  him  to  tell  us 
about  Maggie  Murphy." 

"  We  have  had  a  mirage,  Ashley.  Let  us  pray 
that  it  will  soon  pass  by,"  said  Harding. 

And  then,  without  another  word  being  spoken, 
they  returned  to  the  hospitable  house  of  Hartweli. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  following  is  the  copy  of  a  letter  written  by 
Mrs.  Wolcottto  the  widow  of  her  deceased  husband's 
brother,  Mrs.  Abbey  Roberts,  of  Eastport,  Me.: 

TAUNTON,  September,  2oth,  1878. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER: — I  wrote  you  briefly  of  the  dispatch  announcing  the 
death  of  my  brother  James,  in  a  Nevada  mine,  and  that  his  embalmed 
body  was  being  brought  home  by  two  miners.  Since  then  events  have 
crowded  upon  me  so  swiftly  that  I  have  not  had  composure  enough  to 
think  of  writing. 

The  remains  of  my  brother  reached  here  on  the  2gth  ultimo.  Mr 
Hartwell,  Mr.  Hill  and  Mr.  Burroughs  went  out  as  far  as  Walpole  on  the 
railroad  to  meet  the  train  on  which  the  body  was  being  brought. 

The  miners  were  taken  home  by  Mr.  Harwell.  On  examination  my 
poor  brother's  face  was  found  to  look  quite  natural,  and  it  wore  an 
expression  so  restful  that  I  could  not  help  but  feel  as  though  it  was  an 
indication  that  after  his  hard  physical  toils  and  fierce  mental  troubles  he 
was  at  peace  at  last. 

Mabel,  you  know,  has  been  with  me  since  she  graduated  in  June.  On 
receiving  the  dispatch  we  telegraphed  to  Mildred  at  Mt.  Holyoke  tu 
come  home  at  once,  so  both  girls  were  with  me  when  the  remains  arrived. 

From  the  two  miners  who  came  with  the  body  Mr.  Hartwell  received 
the  Nevada  papers  giving  an  account  of  the  accident  in  which  James  wat, 
killed;  also  a  letter  from  the  superintendent  of  the  mine,  stating  that  aftc. 
all  expenses  were  paid  my  poor  brother  left  eight  hundred  and  forty  dollars 
to  his  children.  This  we  all  thought  was  most  wonderful,  considering  the 
amount  regularly  sent  the  children.  It  shows  that  poor  James  lived  a 
most  economical  life  in  the  West  and  that  the  wages  paid  there  are 
generous. 

The  letter  of  the  superintendent  stated  that  the  two  miners  who 
were  to  accompany  the  remains  home  had  risked  their  lives  in  trying  to 
rescue  James,  and  the  published  account  showed  that  one  of  them  had 
fainted  in  the  dreadful  chamber  of  the  mine,  while  the  exhaustion  of  the 
other  was  so  extreme  that  he  was  entirely  prostrated  and  seized  with  chills 
and  vomiting  upon  being  brought  out  into  the  open  air. 

Of  course  myself  and  the  girls  were  anxious  to  meet  and  thank  these 


304  THE    COMSTOCK    CLU13. 

men,  but  I  confess  that  at  the  same  time  we  all  dreaded  the  interview- 
awfully.  Good  land  !  You  know  what  we  have  been  reading  about 
Western  miners  for  the  last  twenty-five  years,  and  we  could  not  help  but 
feel  that  if  they  should  prove  to  be  quiet  men,  it  would  only  at  best  be  a 
case  of  wild  beast  with  a  collar  and  chain  on.  And  what  to  do  with  them 
at  the  funeral  was  something  which  had  been  troubling  us  ever  since 
the  receipt  of  the  dispatch.  It  was  to  be  in  church,  and  on  Sunday,  and  it 
was  certain  that  there  would  be  a  church  full  of  people.  How  to  be  polite, 
and  at  the  same  time  how  to  get  those  men  in  and  out  of  a  church  without 
their  doing  something  dreadful  was  a  question  which  I  confess  had  worried 
me,  and  I  could  see  that  it  was  worrying  Mable,  too.  Mildred  did  not  seem 
to  think  much  about  it. 

Mr.  Hartwell  called  upon  us  and  told  us  he  was  going  to  bring  them 
over  at  once,  and  we  sat  down  in  fear"  and  trembling  to  await  their  arrival. 

You  can  never  imagine  our  surprise  when  Mr.  Hartwell  showed  them 
into  our  parlor  and  we  saw  them  for  the  first  time.  Both  were  young 
men,  one  not  more  than  thirty  and  the  other  not  more  than  twenty- 
four  years  of  age;  both  were  dressed  with  perfect  taste,  in  dark  business 
suits  of  fashionable  clothes,  and  though  slightly  confused — I  guess  startled 
is  a  better  word — both,  with  considerable  gentleness,  and  with  a  grave 
courtesy,  in  low  voices,  addressed  me  first  and  then  the  children. 

They  expected  to  find  school  children,  they  met  young  ladies — I  may 
say  beautiful  young  ladies,  if  I  am  their  aunt — and  I  think  the  surprise  for 
a  moment  threw  them  off  their  guard. 

But  they  certainly  were  not  more  astonished  than  we  were.  Mabel 
well-nigh  broke  down,  but  Mildred,  with  her  more  matter  of-fact  nature, 
bore  the  ordeal  nobly. 

While  the  girls  were  talking  I  stole  the  opportunity  to  look  more 
closely  at  the  men.  My  surprise  increased  every  moment.  Instead  of  a 
pair  of  bronzed  bruisers,  they  stood  there  with  faces  that  were  as  free  from 
tan  as  the  face  of  a  closely-housed  woman.  They  were  each  of  about 
medium  height,  but  with  broad  shoulders,  tremendous  chests  and  powerful 
arms.  The  younger  one  had  a  firm  foot  and  a  large  hand  and  the  frankest 
open  face  you  ever  looked  into.  The  other  had  smaller  hands,  feet  and 
features,  but  their  heads  were  both  superb,  and  the  first  words  they  spoke 
revealed  that  both  were  fairly  educated.  The  younger  one  was  light  with 
auburn  hair.  He  wore  a  heavy  mustache;  the  rest  of  his  face  was  clean 
shaven.  The  other  was  darker,  with  gray  eyes,  brown  hair,  with  full 
beard,  but  neatly  trimmed,  and  the  hair  of  both  was  of  fashionably  cut.  I 
tell  you,  sister,  as  they  stood  there,  they  would  have  borne  inspection  even 
in  Boston. 

After  the  first  greetings  were  over  and  we  all  had  gained  a  little  compos 
ure,  the  men  explained  to  us  that  James  was  possessed  of  more  property  than 
he  himself  was  aware  of,  and  one  of  them  handed  to  Mabel  a  paper  which 
he  called  "a  bill  of  exchange  "  on  a  Boston  bank  for  forty-two  thousand 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  305 

six  hundred  dollars.  Since  then  they  have  explained  that  the  money  was 
made  by  a  friend  of  my  brother,  and  that  it  was  accomplished  by  buying 
stocks  when  they  were  low  and  selling  them  when  they  were  high,  which 
seems  to  me  to  be  a  most  profitable  business.  You  see,  it  makes  the  girls 
rich  when  they  thought  they  were  so  poor,  and  were  counting  only  on  lives 
of  hard  work. 

The  visit  of  the  young  men  was  only  a  very  brief  one,  not  five  minutes 
in  duration  it  seemed  to  me,  but  they  were  moments  of  great  excitement  .to 
our  little  household,  as  you  may  well  believe.  When  they  were  gone 
Mabel  said  :  "Are  they  not  perfectly  splendid?"  and  I  said:  "  Indeed  they 
are,"  but  Mildred  merely  said:  "They  seem  to  be  real  gentlemen."  That 
Mildred  is  the  strangest  girl. 

The  funeral  was  to  be  the  next  day,  and  in  anticipation  of  it  we  had 
bought  cheap  mourning  hats  and  plain  bombazine  mourning  habits,  such 
as  I  thought  would  be  becoming  to  people  in  ourcircumstances.  But  when 
I  learned  that  the  girls  were  no  longer  poor,  I  thought  it  would  be  only 
proper  that  they  should  have  more  expensive  dresses.  So,  as  soon  as  the 
young  men  were  gone  I  sent  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Buffets,  the  dressmaker,  and 
Mrs.  Tibbett's,  the  milliner,  asking  them  to  do  me  the  favor  to  call  upon  me 
at  once  if  possible.  They  both  called  within  a  few  minutes.  Before  they 
came,  however,  I  explained  to  the  girls  what  I  had  done,  at  which  Mabel 
was  very  glad,  but  Mildred  seemed  perfectly  indifferent.  She  hardly  spoke 
after  the  young  men  went  away  for  several  minutes.  I  think  their  coming 
had  turned  her  thoughts  back  more  intently  upon  her  father.  Mrs.  Tibbetts 
came  first,  and  from  her  Mabel  ordered  three  expensive  hats.  I  expostu 
lated  against  her  buying  a  hat  for  me,  but  she  would  have  it  so.  When 
we  explained  what  was  wanted  to  Mrs.  Buffets,  she  declared  at  first  that  it 
was  impossible  without  working  after  twelve  o'clock  on  Saturday  night, 
which  she  did  not  like  to  do,  as  she  was  a  member  in  good  standing  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  but  she  finally  agreed  that  she  would  try, 
provided  we  would  pay  what  would  be  extra  for  her  sewing  girls. 
This  she  estimated  would  amount  on  three  dresses  to  at  least  seven 
dollars  and  a  half.  I  have  no  idea  that  the  girls  got  more  than  half 
a  dollar  apiece  extra,  and  there  were  but  seven  of  them,  and  that  the  rest 
was  clear  gain  to  Mrs.  Buffets,  but  that  is  the  advantage  which  is  always 
taken  of  people  when  there  is  a  funeral. 

We  had  a  hard  time  with  Mildred.  She  insisted  that  two  dresses  and 
hats  were  all  that  were  required,  one  for  Mabel  and  one  for  aunty;  that  as 
yet  she  was  a  school  girl  and  the  cheap  raiment  was  good  enough  for  her 
I  think  she  would  have  refused  to  yield  had  I  not  told  her  that  unless  she 
did  I  would  not  accept  either  hat  or  habit;  then  she  consented. 

Of  course,  it  may  seem  like  vanity  to  speak  of  such  a  thing  in  so  sad  a 
connection,  but  the  dresses  were  most  lovely.  The  girls'  were  of  rich  and 
soft  cashmere,  mine  was  of  Henrietta  cloth.  I  must  say  that  in  the  new 


3C>6  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

clothes  the  girls  did  look  beautiful  at  the  funeral,  and  I  was  as  proud 
of  them  as  I  could  be  on  so  sad  an  occasion. 

That  Saturday  evening  after  we  talked  the  matter  over,  the  girls  sent 
an  invitation  over  to  Mr.  Hartwell's  house  for  the  miners  to  attend  the 
funeral  with  us.  The  invitation  was  answered  by  the  younger  miner. 
Harding.  He  accepted  the  invitation  for  himself  and  his  friend,  stating 
that  Ashley  (the  other  one)  was  temporarily  absent  in  the  city.  The  note 
was  beautifully  written  and  every  word  was  spelled  correctly. 

Next  morning,  a  few  minutes  before  it  was  time  to  proceed  to  the 
church,  the  young  men  came  in. 

They  were  scrupulously  dressed  in  black,  and  their  attire,  even  to 
their  hats  and  gloves,  was  in  perfect  taste. 

Mildred  betrayed  more  agitation  than  on  the  first  meeting.  She  is  a 
strange  girl,  and  the  loss  of  her  father  almost  crushed  her.  Mabel,  how 
ever  received  them  with  a  grace  which  was  queenly,  and  in  her  new  robes 
she  looked  like  a  queen  indeed. 

When  it  came  time  to  go  to  the  church,  I  supposed,  of  course,  the 
young  men  would  offer  to  escort  the  girls.  Besides  Mildred,  Mabel  and 
myself,  Aunt  Abigail,  James'  wife's  grandmother,  had  come  down  to  the 
funeral.  You  know  she  is  old  now — past  73;  she  never  was  very  pretty, 
and  coming  down  from  the  country  her  dress  and  bonnet — good  land,  she 
was  a  sight. 

Mabel  could  not  conceal  her  mortification,  and  I  must  say  I  should 
have  been  glad  if  she  had  not  come. 

As  we  stood  up  to  go,  the  younger  miner  said  gently:  ''Ashley,  will 
you  see  to  Mrs.  Wolcott  ?"  and  then  he  went  up  to  Aunt  Abigail,  and  with 
as  much  kindly  politeness  as  I  ever  saw  displayed,  asked  her  to  lean  upon 
him  in  the  walk  to  the  church.  The  other  one  gave  me  his  arm,  at  the 
same  time  saying:  "The  young  ladies  are  the  nearer  relatives,  they 
should  walk  in  front  "  His  face  was  fair,  but  the  arm  I  took  was  as  hard 
as  iron. 

I  said:  "  No  matter,  Mildred  take  the  other  arm  of  Mr.  Ashley  and 
Mabel  take  that  of  Mr  Harding  !  This  was  done,  except  that  somehow  in 
the  confusion  Mildred  took  the  arm  of  Harding  and  Mabel  sought  the  dis 
engaged  arm  of  Ashley. 

At  the  church  we  were  seated  in  the  front  pew,  of  course.  You  never 
saw  such  a  crowd  at  a  funeral.  I  noticed  as  we  worked  our  way  up  the 
aisle  men  there  that  had  not  been  in  a  church  before  for  years. 

There  were,  besides,  the  Brown,  the  Smith  and  the  Jones  families,  who 
were  never  before  known  to  attend  an  ordinary  funeral. 

I  mention  this  merely  to  show  how  much  James  was  respected. 

The  services  were  most  impressive.  The  organ  was  played  as  we 
entered  the  church.  When  we  were  seated  there  was  a  short  prayer,  then 
a  chant  with  organ  accompaniment  was  rendered.  Professor  Van  Dyke, 
the  music  teacher  at  the  seminary,  presided  at  the  organ,  and  Jane  Emer 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  307 

son  led  the  supranos.  She  sang  her  best,  and  people  do  tell  me  that  they 
have  paid  money  to  hear  women  sing  in  concerts  that  could  not  sing  as 
well  as  Jane  Emerson.  If  Jane  was  only  a  little  better  looking  and  knew 
how  to  dress  in  better  style,  and  if  her  father  only  belonged  to  a  better 
family,  there  would  not  be  a  young  woman  in  Taunton  with  brighter 
prospects  than  hers. 

Mr.  Ashman's  main  prayer  was  a  most  touching  one,  and  it  moved 
many  in  the  congregation  to  tears.  He  preached  from  John,  the  fourteenth 
chapter  and  eighteenth  verse: 

"  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless,  I  will  come  to  you." 
It  was  generally  conceded  that  the  sermon  was  one  of  the  minister's  best 
efforts  since  he  preached  in  Taunton.     Miss  Hume,  who  was  present,  says 
she  never  heard  a  finer  discourse  in  Boston. 

The  burden  of  the  sermon  was  that  the  promise  to  send  a  comforter 
to  the  disciples  was  a  promise  made  for  all  time,  to  those  in  sorrow,  that  if 
they  would  but  ask,  the  comforter  would  come  to  them.  When  the  sermon 
was  over  and  the  choir  hadi  sung  again,  the  minister  said  that  as  many 
persons  present  would  like  to  know  the  particulars  of  James'  death,  he 
would  read  the  account  from  the  Territorial  Enterprise,  a  paper  published 
in  Virginia  City,  only  a  few  miles  from  the  Nevada  mines.  He  said  further 
that  the  report  was  written  by  a  Mr.  De  Quille,  who  he  presumed  was  a 
descendant  of  the  distinguished  family  of  France  of  that  name,  that  the 
account  showed  that  he  was  a  very  learned  man  and  graphic  writer,  and 
such  a  man  could  only  be  retained  by  the  receipt  of  an  enormous  salary. 

He  further  explained  that  where  the  word  shaft  was  used  it  meant 
a  hole  like  a  well  which  men  sunk  in  order  to  get  the  rock  out  from 
underground  that  had  silver  in  it ;  that  drifts  were  places  in  the  mines 
where  the  rock  that  had  the  silver  in  it  lay  in  ridges  like  snow-drifts  ; 
that  stations  were  where  men  kept  lunch  stands  for  the  miners  ;  that 
tunnels  were  holes  made  in  the  shape  of  a  funnel  to  get  air  down  in  the 
mine  ;  that  a  winze  was  a  corruption  for  windlass,  and  cages  were  simply 
elevators,  like  those  in  use  in  hotels,  but  made  like  cages  so  that  men 
could  not  fall  out,  that  run  up  and  down  in  the  well. 

You  never  at  a  revival  saw  a  congregation  so  excited  as  that  one  was 
dnring  the  reading  of  that  account.  They  tell  me  that  men  were  as  pale 
as  death  all  over  the  house,  while  the  sobbing  of  women  could  be  heard 
above  the  reading. 

But  our  two  miners  never  showed  a  bit  of  emotion  and  never  seemed 
conscious  that  every  eye  in  the  church  was  on  them.  The  only  things  I 
noticed  were  that  during  the  singing  the  older  one  was  softly  beating 
time  on  his  hymn  book,  and  both  moved  a  little  uneasily  in  their  seats 
when  the  minister  was  explaining  the  mining  terms. 

After  the  children  had  looked  for  the  last  time  on  their  father's  face, 
the  young  men  who  had  been  standing  at  the  foot  of  the  coffin  walked  up 
to  the  .head,  one  on  each  side.  After  a  long  gaze  at  James'  face  they 


308  THE    COM  STOCK    CLUli. 

turned  facing  each  other  and  stretching  out  their  hands,  clasped  hands  a 
moment  over  the  coffin.  I  suppose  that  is  a  custom  among  miners  in  the 
West. 

Brother's  body  was  buried  beside  that  of  his  wife. 

The  young  men  remained  in  Taunton  two  weeks  after  the  funeral. 
We  all  went  on  a  little  excursion  to  Buzzard's  Bay  and  to  Cape  Cod.  I 
never  saw  better  behaved  men,  even  those  that  come  down  from  Boston, 
than  those  two  miners.  They  received  a  great  many  attentions,  too,  here 
in  Taunton  and  every  day  were  obliged  to  decline  invitations  to  dinner. 

There  is  a  story  going  around,  but  I  do  not  believe  it  is  true,  ihav 
one  morning  early  they  went  to  a  livery  stable  and  asked  for  two  wild 
horses,  regular  furies,  that  had  thrown  their  riders  the  previous  day, 
that  they  mounted  them  and  the  horses  reared  and  plunged  awfully, 
but  they  rode  rapidly  out  of  town  ;  that  they  were  gone  an  hour  and  a 
half  and  when  they  returned  the  horses  were  covered  with  foam  and 
seemed  perfectly  gentle. 

Just  before  going  away  they  came  over  one  day  to  my  house  and 
telling  the  girls  that  they  had  received  so  many  kindnesses  from  so 
many  people  that  they  wanted  to  make  a  little  picnic  festival  in  Mr. 
Hartwell's  grounds,  asked  them  to  help  suggest  names  for  the  invi 
tations.  The  festival  was  to  be  the  next  afternoon.  What  do  you 
think?  That  morning  carpenters  came  and  fixed  benches  and  tables  on 

the   grounds,    the    three   o'clock   train    brought   the Cornet    Band 

from  Boston,  and  at  five  o'clock  in   the  afternoon  the  waiters  in   the 

Hotel  appeared,  set  the  tables  and  waited  on  the  guests.  They  had 
sent  up  to  Boston  for  the  dinner  and  I  never  saw  anything  like  it  in  my 
life 

Mr.  Hartwell  says  the  expense  must  have  been  at  least  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  dollars.  Those  Western  men  are  awfully  extravagant. 

Next  morning  they  went  away.  The  older  one  to  Pennsylvania 
where  he  will  live  hereafter,  and  the  other  one  to  California,  where  he 
has  property.  We  have  been  real  lonesome  ever  since  they  went  away. 

Mildred  left  us  yesterday  to  return  to  school,  and  will  graduate  next 
June,  she  says  on  the  day  she  is  eighteen.  Mabel,  you  know,  was  eigh 
teen  and  a  half  when  she  graduated  last  June,  but  Mildred  always  was  a 
little  the  most  forward  scholar  of  her  age.  Since  the  funeral  the  girls 
have  purchased  some  beautiful  clothing,  and  it  would  do  your  heart  good 
to  see  them.  My  letter  is  pretty  long,  but  I  could  tell  you  as  much  more 
if  I  had  time.  Your  loving  sister, 

MA*RTHA  WOLCOTT. 

P.  S. — I  want  to  tell  you  a  secret.  I  think  that  Ashley,  the  older 
miner,  and  Mabel  have  a  liking  for  each  other,  though  I  don't  know, 
except  that  I  saw  Ashley  kiss  Mabel  as  he  was  going  away.  All  I  can  say 
is  that  if  they  should  make  a  match,  there  would  not  be  a  handsomer 
couple  in  Massachusetts.  It  is  only  a  surmise  on  my  part  that  they  are 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  309 

fond  of  each  other.  Afcer  the  young  men  had  been  gone  for  several 
hours  I  asked  Mabel  if  they  were  any  serious  relations  between  her  and 
Ashley,  and  she  answered  :  "  Not  the  least  serious,  auntie  ;  our  relations 
are  altogether  pleasant."  M.  W. 

The  next  letter  from  Mrs.  Wolcott  to  Mrs.  Roberts 
read  like  this-: 

TAUNTON,  September  13,  1879. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER  : — It  is  now  almost  a  year  since  I  wrote  you  the 
letter  telling  you  of  brother  James'  funeral  and  that  I  half  suspected 
a  fondness  had  sprung  up  between  Mabel  and  one  of  the  men  who  came 
with  the  remains  of  James. 

Well,  I.  was  correct  in  my  suspicions;  for  last  Thursday  they  were 
married  and  left  by  the  evening  train  for  their  future  home  in  Pennsyl 
vania.  He  has  an  iron  mine  in  the  mountains  and  reduction  works  at 
Pittsburgh,  and  is  making  money  very  fast.  Their  home  is  in  Pittsburgh. 

I  thought  at  first  I  was  mistaken,  because  no  letters  came  to  Mabel, 
but  it  seems  Mabel  made  a  confident  of  her  cousin  George,  who  is  a  con 
ductor  on  a  train  which  runs  between  here  and  Providence;  he  hired  a  box 
in  the  postoffice  there,  Mabel's  letters  were  sent  to  that  postoffice  and 
George  brought  them  to  her.  This  was  done  to  thwart  the  curiosity  of  the 
wife  of  the  postmaster  here.  The  postmaster  himself  is  a  good  meaning  man, 
but  his  wife  is  a  real  gossip,  and  had  frequent  letters  come  from  one  place  to 
Mabel  the  whole  town  would  have  known  it  in  no  time.  When  it  was  known 
that  the  girls  had  received  a  large  amount  of  money  the  Browns,  the  Smiths 
and  the  Proctors,  who  had  never  called  before,  all  came  and  begged  Mabel, 
now  that  she  had  graduated  (look  at  the  hypocracy),  to  come  out  more  in  the 
world.  Young  Henry  Proctor  called  several  times,  and  in  less  than  a  fort 
night  asked  Mabel  if  he  might  not  sit  up  with  her  on  Saturday  nights.  He 
is  a  very  proud  young  man,  and  it  is  said  he  will  have  twelve  thousand 
dollars  when  he  goes  out  for  himself  next  year,  but  Mabel  declined  any 
particular  attentions  from  him.  She  did  the  same  thing  with  half  a  dozen 
more  young  men  of  the  best  families.  I  was  perplexed.  Of  course  I  was  in 
no  hurry  for  Mabel  to  marry,  but  good  opportunities  for  girls  are  none  too 
plenty,  so  many  young  men  go  West,  and  when  I  saw  her  throw  away 
chance  after  chance,  and  some  of  them  so  eligible,  I  was  afraid  she  would  be 
sorry  some  time,  for  careless  as  girls  are,  they  all  expect  some  time  to  be 
married.  It  went  on  so  until  six  weeks  ago,  when  suddenly  one  evening 
Mabel  said:  "Auntie,  come  go  with  me  to  Boston  to-morrow."  "What 
are  you  going  to  Boston  for?"  I  asked.  "  There  is  a  young  man  coming 
here  to  carry  me  away  in  a  few  weeks,  auntie,  and  I  need  a  few  things," 
said  she.  "And  who  is  the  young  man,  Mabel?"  I  asked.  "Herbert 
Ashley,"  was  the  answer,  and  then  she  fell  on  her  knees,  and  burying  her 
face  in  my  lap  sobbed  for  joy.  I  cried  a  little,  too,  it  was  so  sudden. 
"But  when  were  you  engaged?'"  I  asked,  after  she  had  grown  a  little 


31O  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

composed.  "  We  have  had  a  perfect  understanding  since  the  week  after 
father's  funeral,"  said'She,  and  then  added:  "  My  heart  followed  him  out  of 
the  house  on  that  first  day,  when  I  had  only  looked  once  in  his  face.  Is  he 
not  grand,  auntie?"  "But  why  have  you  never  told  me?"  I  asked.  Then  she 
put  her  arms  around  me  and  said:  '"Because,  dear  auntie,  you  know  you 
could  not  have  kept  my  secret. "  I  was  hurt  at  this,  because  everybody  knows 
how  close-mouthed  I  am.  But  I  went  to  Boston, and  what  do  you  think?  that 
girl  spent  over  seven  hundred  dollars  just  for  clothes.  I  remonstrated, 
but  she  cut  me  short,  saying:  "  I  am  going  with  my  king,  and  I  must  not 
disgrace  his  court."  Did  you  ever  hear  such  talk?  When  I  was  married  I 
had  just  two  merino  dresses,  one  brown  and  one  blue,  four  muslin  dresses 
and  some  plain  underclothing.  But  I  had  a  beautitul  feather  bed  that  I  had 
made  myself,  four  comforters,  two  quilted  bed  spreads  in  small  patterns, 
and  a  full  set  of  dishes  that  cost  six  dollars  and  a  half  in  Portland.  Things 
are  greatly  changed  since  I  was  a  girl.  Well,  Mr.  Ashley  came,  he  is  a 
splendid  man.  Mabel  slipped  away  with  her  cousin  and  went  down  to 
Providence  to  meet  him.  He  brought  Mabel  jewelry  that  the  best 
judges  here  think  cost  as  much  as  a  thousand  dollars.  It  is  shameful,  the 
extravagance  of  those  Western  men.  Why,  he  gave  the  minister  that 
married  them  fifty  dollars,  which  you  know  yourself  was  a  clear  waste  of 
forty-five  dollars.  Five  dollars  is  certainly  enough  for  five  minutes 
work  of  a  minister,  especially  if  he  and  his  wife  are  also  given  a  fine 
supper.  Mr.  Ashley  also  gave  Mildred  some  beautiful  jewelry.  It  must 
have  cost  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  he  was  most  generous  to  me, 
too.  On  his  wedding  day  he  got  five  dispatches  from  the  West ;  one  from 
Illinois,  two  from  Virginia  City,  Nevada,  and  two  from  California,  con. 
gratulating  him,  and  they  must  have  cost  the  senders  as  much  as  fifty 
dollars.  Thank  goodness  they  all  came  marked  "paid."  The  wedding 
was  in  the  church  in  the  evening.  It  had  been  whispered  around,  and  the 
church  was  full.  Land  sakes,  but  they  were  a  lovely  couple,  Mable's 
dress  was  white  satin,  with  princess  train  of  brocaded  satin.  The  front  of 
the  skirt  was  trimmed  with  lace  flounces,  headed  with  garlands  of  lilies  of 
the  valley  and  orange  blossoms.  She  wore  also  a  long  tulle  veil,  with 
orange  blossoms  in  her  hair.  Her  dress  cost  one  hundred  and  fifty-three 
dollars  and  thirty  seven  cents..  I  did  not  think  the  train  was  necessary, 
and  there  was  no  need  of  a  veil,  leastwise  not  so  long  a  one,  but  it  was 
Mabel's  wish  to  have  them,  so  I  did  not  object.  Mrs.  White  says  she  never 
saw  a  handsomer  bride  in  Boston  nor  a  more  manly  looking  groom.  I 
confess  I  was  proud  of  them  both.  We  had  a  quiet  little  party  at  my  house 
and  a  supper,  and  at  ten  o'clock  they  went  away  by  special  train  to  Provi 
dence.  Think  of  the  foolishness  of  hiring  a  special  train,  when  the  regu 
lar  train  would  have  come  by  next  morning.  Mr.  Ashley  wanted  to  have 
what  he  called  a  "  boss  wedding;"  wanted  to  ask  half  the  town,  and,  as  he 
said,  shake  up  Taunton  for  once,"  but  Mabel  coaxed  him  out  of  the  idea. 
He  wanted  me  to  sell  or  rent  my  place  and  with  Mildred  go  and  make  his 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  311 

home  mine,  but  I  don't  think  that  is  the  best  way.  Young  married  folks 
want  to  be  let  alone  mostly,  while  they  are  getting  acquainted  with  each 
other.  Mildred  has  been  home  since  she  graduated  in  June.  I  think  she  has 
discouraged  more  men  since  she  came  home  than  ever  Mabel  did.  She  has 
improved  greatly  in  her  personal  appearance  and  is  a  girl  of  most  decided 
character.  When  she  first  came  home  we  used  to  tease  her  about  her 
beaux,  but  we  do  not  any  more.  When  the  young  men  were  here  last 
vear,  after  we  got  pretty  well  acquainted,  one  day  when  they  had  called 
Mildred  took  a  sheet  of  paper  and  pen,  and  going  to  Mr.  Harding,  said: 
"  Mr.  Harding,  please  write  an  inscription  to  put  upon  father's  monu 
ment."  He  took  the  pen  and  wrote:  "  The  truest,  best  of  men."  Well, 
one  day  about  a  month  ago  Mildred  had  gone  down  town  for  something 
when  Mabel,  wanting  scissors,  or  thimble  or  something  which  she  had 
mislaid,  went  to  Mildred's  work  basket  to  get  hers.  There  under  some 
soft  wools  that  Mildred  had  been  working  upon  Mabel  saw  the  end  of  a 
ribbon,  and  picking  it  up  drew  out  a  locket  which  was  attached  to  it.  She 
could  not  control  her  curiosity,  but  brought  it  to  me.  I  gave  Mabel  lib 
erty  to  open  it,  though  my  sense  of  perfect  justice  was  a  good  deal 
shocked.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  was  dying  to  see  what  was  in  it.  Mabel 
opened  it,  and  inside  there  was  nothing  but  that  bit  of  paper  with  the  words 
in  Harding's  handwriting:  "  The  truest,  best  of  men."  There  were  some 
stains  on  the  paper,  but  whether  they  were  made  by  kisses  or  tears  we 
could  not  make  out,  though  I  put  on  my  gold-rimmed  spectacles,  which 
are  powerful  magnifiers,  and  looked  my  best.  Mabel  put  the  loctafet  back, 
but  to  this  day  there  has  not  been  a  word  said  to  give  me  any  idea 
whether  there  is  anything  like  an  engagement  or  not.  Mildred  is  so  quiet 
and  self-contained  that  if  her  heart  was  breaking  I  do  not  believe  she 
would  say  a  word.  I  should  be  glad  to  think  they  were  engaged,  for 
privately,  I  like  Mr.  Harding  a  little  the  best,  but  if  they  had  been  it  seems 
to  me  he  would  have  been  here  to  the  wedding.  I  don't  know  when  I  have 
been  so  worked  up  about  anything.  If  I  was  fifteen  years  younger,  and  I 
thought  the  majority  of  men  in  the  West  were  like  the  two  that  I  have 
seen,  I  would  sell  my  place  and  go  West,  too. 

Your  affectionate  sister,  MARTHA  WOLCOTT. 

P.  S. — When  Mr.  Ashley  was  here  he  took  the  girls  out  to  James' 
grave.  We  had  put  up  a  plain  stone,  but  Mr.  Ashley  did  not  like  it. 
When  he  came  in  he  ordered  the  finest  monument  in  the  marble  works. 
Those  that  have  seen  it  say  it  is  real  Italian  marble,  and  that  it  is  hand 
somer  than  the  one  that  the  Banker  Sherman  erected  over  his  wife,  and 
that  cost  over  five  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  M.  W. 

This  letter  explains    itself : 

Los  ANGELOS,  Cal.,  March  2Oth,  1880. 

MY  DARLING  SISTER: — We  reached  our  home  here  last  night.  While 
I  write  the  perfume  of  almonds  and  orange  blossoms,  of  climbing  vines, 


312  THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB. 

and  roses  shedding  their  incense  in  lavish  fragrance  steals  in  through  the 
open  window.  A  mocking  bird  is  mimicking  an  oriole's  warblings,  and  I 
fancy  I  feel  at  this  moment  as  do  ransomed  souls  when  amid  the  mansions 
of  the  redeemed  they  open  their  eyes  and  know  that  for  them  joy  is  to  be 
ettrnal  You  have  always  called  me  ''Old  Matter-of-Fact."  Well,  then, 
just  imagine  me  sitting  here  half-blinded  by  the  tears  cc  happiness  that  I 
can  not  restrain. 

But  let  me  tell  you  of  my  journey.  You  remember  that,  though  the 
sky  was  bright  overhead — as  bright  as  it  can  be  in  Pittsburg — on  the 
morning  that  we  were  married,  when  we  took  the  train  in  the  evening  it 
was  snowing  hard.  Before  morning  the  train  was  delayed  by  the  snow. 
We  worried  along,  however,  and  the  next  evening  arrived  at  Peoria,  Illi 
nois.  Here  an  old  friend  of  my  husband  (is  not  that  word  husband  lovely?), 
your  husband  and  father's  with  his  wife  met  us  at  the  depot  and  we  had 
to  go  home  with  them  and  stay  two  days.  The  man's  name  is  Carlin  and 
he  is  a  "  splendid  fellow,"  as  they  say  out  this  way.  He  was  one  of  the 
Club  to  which  our  husbands  belonged.  He  has  a  mill,  store  and  farm  a 
few  miles  from  Peoria  and  seems  to  be  the  first  man  in  that  region.  He 
has,  too,  a  charming  wife  whom  he  calls  "  Susie  Dick,"  and  a  six  months' 
old  baby  which  he  calls  "  Brewster  Miller  Carlin."  They  are  as  hearty 
people  in  their  friendship  as  I  ever  met.  They  asked  all  about  your  hus 
band,  and  yourself,  and  I  had  to  get  out  your  photograph  to  convince  them 
that  you  were  far  more  beautiful  than  myself.  When  we  arrived  Mr. 
Carlin  sent  out  and  got  in  some  twenty  couples,  and  to  use  his  own 
expression,  "  we  made  a  night  of  it,"  and  "  painted  the  town  red,"  that  is 
until  midnight.  They  made  me  singand  play,  and  one  old  gentleman  present 
made  me  proud,  by  telling  me  "  you  beat  ord'nary  primer  donners." 
After  the  company  retired  Mr.  Carlin  asked  me  how  I  liked  the  old  gentle 
man's  pronunciation,  and  then  husband  said  the  old  gentleman  knew  as 
much  about  music  as  our  minister  in  Taunton  did  about  mining.  Then  he 
told  Mr.  Carlin  what  Mr.  Ashman  said  about  tunnels,  drifts,  stations,  etc., 
and  the  man  laughed  until  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks.  Well,  at 
length,  with  blessings,  presents,  and  packed  lunch  baskets,  we  got  away. 
All  through  Illinois  and  Iowa  the  world  was  hid  by  the  snow;  we  passed 
Omaha,  crossed  Nebraska,  climbed  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  came  down 
on  this  side,  and  swept  across  the  desert  of  Nevada  to  Reno.  Here  we 
stopped  and  next  day  went  to  Virginia  City.  I  wanted  to  visit  the  place 
where  our^father  died.  In  Virginia  City — which  is  a  city  on  a  desert 
mountain  side — you  cannot  conceive  of  such  a  place — the  wind  was  blow 
ing  a  hurricane  ;  blowing  as  at  the  old  home,  it  comes  in  sometimes  from 
the  ocean  in  a  southeaster.  Husband  took  me  to  the  fatal  Bullion  shaft. 
The  men  were  just  then  changing  shift  as  they  call  it  ;  the  men  who  had 
worked  eight  hours  were  coming  out  of  the  mine,  those  who  were  to  work 
the  next  eight  hours  were  going  down.  The  shaft  is  half  a  mile  deep  and 
the  cage  loaded  with  nine  men  shoots  up  out  of  the  dreadful  gloom  or 


THE    COMSTOCK    CLUB.  313 

drops  back  into  it  as  though  it  were  nothing.  Many  of  the  miners  greeted 
husband  warmly,  and  were  hearty  in  their  welcomes  to  me,  though  they 
were  not  encumbered  by  any  great  amount  of  clothing.  I  turned  away 
from  the  shaft  almost  in  a  panic,  I  could  not  bear  to  look  at  it.  But  Vir 
ginia  City  is  a  wonderful  place  ;  I  would  tell  you  more  of  it,  if  you  had 
not  some  one  near  you  who  can  tell  it  much  better  than  I  can.  We  met  a 
great  many  pleasant  people  there,  especially  a  lawyer  named  Colonel 
Savage,  a  journalist,  a  Mr.  Strong,  and  a  Professor  Stoneman.  They  met 
us  like  brothers  and  spoke  of  your  Herbert  as  another  brother.  We  left 
that  same  evening  and  returning  to  Reno  started  up  the  Sierras.  I  confess 
that  a  feeling  of  something  like  desolation  took  possession  of  me.  The 
region  was  so  dreary,  it  seemed  to  me  that  only  my  husband  was  between 
me  and  chaos.  After  leaving  Reno  a  .couple  of  hours,  we  entered  the  snow 
sheds  and  I  went  to  sleep  with  a  thought  that  I  was  under  a  mountain  of 
snow.  I  wakened  next  morning  in  Sacramento  and  when  I  looked  out  the 
birds  were  singing  and  flowers  were  blooming  around  me.  Before  noon 
we  reached  San  Francisco  and  drove  to  the  Palace  hotel.  There  we  were 
met  by  a  gentleman  named  Miller,  the  one  that  made  for  father  our  money. 
He  is  very  rich.  He  told  Sainmie  that  he  had  been  "coppering"  the 
market  ever  since  he  came  to  the  city  and  had  "  taken  every  trick."  Later 
I  asked  husband  what  "  coppering1'  meant  and  he  smiled  and  said:  "  Bet 
ting  that  it  will  not  win."  I  do  not  quite  understand  it  yet,  but  I  know  it 
is  right,  for  Sammie  says  so.  This  Mr.  Miller  told  husband  that  he  was 
going  to  make  me  a  piesent  and  that  he  must  not  say  a  word,  at  which 
Sammie  said:  "  Go  ahead,  but  don't  make  it  very  expensive."  Then  he 
handed  me  a  little  package,  but  said  I  must  not  open  it  until  I  reached 
home.  What  do  you  think?  It  is  a  diamond  cluster  which  must  have  cost 
fifteen  hundred  dollars.  In  San  Francisco  I  found  the  most  delicious 
flowers  I  ever  saw.  Tell  auntie,  too,  that  there  are  no  such  hotels  as  one 
or  two  in  San  Francisco,  "  not  even  in  Boston."  There  are  splendid 
churches  and  theatres.  The  Bay  is  beautiful,  the  park  is  going  to  be 
grand,  the  ladies  dress  most  richly.  We  sailed  over  to  Sausalito  and  San 
Rafael,  looked  out  through  the  Golden  Gate — in  short,  ran  around  for  a 
week.  Then  we  came  directly  home,  reaching  this  place  last  night. 

A  charming  supper  was  in  waiting,  and,  all  smiles,  the  Chinaman 
who  prepared  it  was  in  attendance.  His  name  is  Yap  Sing,  and  he  has 
been  with  husband  ever  since  his  first  return  from  the  East.  He  was 
the  cook  for  the  Club  which  you  have  heard  our  husbands  talk  about, 
and  of  course  knew  father.  He  fairly  ran  over  with  joy  at  our  coming, 
and  such  a  cook  as  he  is  !  I  would  like  to  hear  what  Aunt  Martha  would 
say  to  one  of  his  dinners.  But  husband  pays  him  forty  dollars  a  month. 
Is  not  that  a  dreadful  price  for  a  cook  ? 

We  have  received  good  news  since  coming  home.  Husband's  mine 
in  Arizona  is  yielding  him  for  his  one-half  interest  twelve  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  per  month. 


3 14  THE    COMSTOCK    CLU1J. 

My  house  is  a  beautiful  cottage,  with  broad  halls  and  verandas,  and 
is  furnished  elegantly  all  through. 

My  heart  runs  over  with  gratitude.  My  soul  is  on  its  knees  in 
thankfulness  all  fhe  time.  I  believe  I  am  the  happiest  woman  in  the 
world.  "  The  truest  and  best  of  men  "  sits  across  the  room  writing  let 
ter  after  letter,  clearing  up  a  delayed  correspondence.  He  is  handsomer 
than  on  that  day  when  I  first  looked  in  his  eyes,  and  knew  in  an  instant 
that  he  was  my  fate,  that  I  should  worship  him  forever,  whether  he 
knew  it  or  not  ;  that  if  he  did  not  ask  me  to  be  his  wife,  I  should  never 
be  a  wife,  but  my  myself  should  walk  through  life  bearing  my  burdens  as 
humbly  and  bravely  as  I  could,  and  keeping  my  heart  warm  by  the  flame 
in  the  vestal  lamp  which  his  smile  had  kindled  within  it. 

Now  heaven  has  opened  to  me,  and  so  jubilant  is  my  heart  that  I  can 
feel  it  throbbing  as  I  write,  and  with  a  thankfulness  unspeakable  I 
worship  at  my  hero's  feet. 

With  warmest  love  to  you,  dear  sister,  and  to  your  husband  and 
auntie,  in  which  my  other  self  joins  heartily,  I  am 

Your  loving  sister. 
MILDRED  BRKWSTER  HARDING. 

P.  S. — Sister  :  This  morning  as  we  sat  here  I  asked  my  lord  why 
he  and  your  husband  clasped  hands  over  our  father's  coffin.  Waiting  a 
moment,  he  answered  that  on  the  journey  East  with  father's  body,  your 
husband  and  himself  made  a  covenant  together  that  henceforth,  whatever 
might  happen,  they  would  watch  over  us  as  a  sacred  trust  received  from 
our  father,  and  that  the  hand  clasp  was  but  an  involuntary  pledge  of  the 
sincerity  of  that  compact. 

Can  we  ever  be  good  enough  wives  to  these  men  who  do  not  half 
realize  how  grand  they  are  ? 

Love  and  kisses, 

MILDRED. 


/\UG  2  6  1987 


DATE  DUE 


MTED  IN  US. A 


30$ 


UC  SOUTHEBN    EGIONAI  L  BIWBY  FACILITY 


linn  in    •   ••    ••    • 

A  A      000309258   2 


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